Enforcement on the punt return that never was

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

How do you know that the left gunner isn't going to make a play somewhere in the middle of the field but was held/taken down completely out of the play?

What if there was a defensive penalty downfield? Then do you magically enforce the hold at the line in order to offset the penalties or do you pick up the foul on A and give B a benefit it doesn't have?

Besides, the defense has a choice, doesn't it? It can decline the penalty if it wants.

We don't throw a flag to offset penalties; magically or otherwise.

Each foul is judged on it's own merits on the play. A left gunner being held with the punt to the middle could very likely be flagged.

We're also instructed to prevent fouls (this is a huge thing) so when working the wing on a kicking play, I'm yelling at B players to "only blocking, no holding". If B is listening to the officials that are using their voices, they very well could get away with a minor hold before resuming blocking. I easily prevent multiple fouls per game using this method, whether it be preventing offside fouls, an occasional hold, or a late hit.

I had the first flag of the game in my college game this past Saturday. < 5 minutes into the game, I warned a WR about holding a DB to allow for more YAC on a short pass. A was tackled for a very short gain, so the hold downfield didn't matter. I even explained to him why it's a hold when he was coming off the field. Sure enough, next offensive series, A's pass to the flats with YAC for a long gain and the same hold was there. Flagged. That's exactly how we do it up here: no effect, no flag, but still warn with our voices. Continued illegal action get flagged.