Rule 11

[Ed Hickland]

Jon Bible wrote an article about making calls based upon advantage which is like Rule 11. Other officials say call the obvious and the dangerous.

The principle is make calls that affect the game or present a danger to a player.

There was an umpire who once flagged the quarterback for failure to wear equipment (mouthpiece) during a play. The play was a thirty yard run from scrimmage. The next morning the coach complained in the newspaper about the refs taking the game away from them with 200 plus yards of penalties. This play cost them net 45 yards (the coach did not know how to compute penalty yardage).

The umpire had the quarterback in view before the snap. Why not make the call then? Why flag the QB after the play starts because the mouthpiece could have fallen out?

Bottom line, use your brain and think about your call.