Proper spot and down?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

Hard for me to imagine how a player could "fall on the ball" and yet the whistle be inadvertent. Either the description is faulty, or there was some strange judgment that the player lying on the ball, even if it subsequently "squirted out", was not in possession of it. Did one of the other officials have a better angle that enabled him to see the ball was merely deflected off the side of the player rather than trapped between the player's body and the ground?

This is why when coaches talk about "You must blow the whistle" why we should not blow the whistle when we "think" the player is down. The ball may not be actually in possession. It happen in our state final game a few years back and our crew member ruled a player down. Well the video showed he was not in possession of the ball, but that is what he ruled at the time so we went with that (and we do not have IR).

Peace