I was on the line to gain crew at a game on Saturday during which there was a fumble. The official dropped down his beanbag at the spot of the fumble. My question is, what is the point of the beanbag?

Thanks,
Mark

Also is used if there is an inadvertent whistle. If A fumbles and there is a whistle, A can have the ball back at that spot or have a replay ......Larry Gonski

That marks the end of the run by A.

If there was a penalty by B during the run. The enforcement spot of the penalty might be from the end of the run.

AJ

I just wanted to resurrect a 6-year old thread.

You kill me JR!

Wow - do you know how to embarrass a rookie! :eek:

I'm happy to say that I'm now more aware of why the spot of the fumble needs to be marked.

I thought Y2K was finally doing some actual damage :D

At least you guys use beanbags. There are no mechanics to use beanbags in Canada. As such, I have actually created a PDF that outlines when to use a beanbag in our amateur game.

There's no doubt that conversations from here over the years have aided me. I've ordered and received the Fed football books - all 5 of them and I just love the Official's Handbook. It describes everything!

Hey Mike, not is there no mechanics, there is no standard. Some associations do not use them, some use blue nylon, some blue vinyl, some white nylon, some white vinyl. As a result, I have to keep all four in stock.

I wish we standardized what we do.

Mark, another thing about the bean bag is as you said, dropped it down at the spot. I have seen officials wizz this thing into a pile to indicate where the fumble was taken place. Mechanically, just drop the bag down in front of you.

The bean bag also serves to indicate possession on PSK ruling to mark the yard line, as a wing, in JV games with few officials, I will use it to mark the spot so I can retrieve the ball, and as Larry stated, to mark a spot of an IW or possible spot for penalty administration.

I carry two, one small one in my pocket for PSK and one in the front for fumbles etc.

Looking back, it's quite impressive, as this was a pee-wee level game. Great point about not flinging the bag off to Timbuktu, though.

I did forget another reason to bag, first touching. Happy baggen'

good luck this season guys

You should never leave the spot to go get the ball. Wait for the umpire to tell you he has the spot then go retrieve the ball. Either that or ask for some help from a player or coach.

The momentum rules also require the use of a beanbag...not only for the spot to possibly come back to, but it also lets the coach watching the film later know that you are declaring it as a possible momentum exception play. You don't know at the time of the catch/recovery whether you will have to use that spot or not, and you can't really go back after the fact. That would be very bad.

There is a standard.
It's right in your Officials Manual pg 10... "All officials must have the proper equipment: essentials ... white bean bag .." etc, etc.

The same manual discusses when to use a bag. It's all over the remainder of the document. This should be covered every year in your meetings. It's important! Associations that don't use them are seriously lacking in proper training.

Nylon or vinyl covering does not matter. You don't need like material, you just need like color.

Those wild duck associations along with renegade officials who use blue are the ones causing all the trouble. NF could solve the problem of color with a few additional words added to the manual. NCAA finally did. If one uses white, we all use white. If one uses blue, we all use blue. After years a complaining, I really don't care about the color any more. I'd use hot pink if all would use it.

The important thing is to know just when to use a bag and when not too.