Is the Ball Dead When the Official Signals But Doesn't Blow His Whistle?
 

Saw this play from the Tulsa/UCF game this weekend.

Punt.
Punt team bats the ball.
Official comes in waving his hands to stop the clock.
Doesn't blow whistle.

Returner picks it up and runs it in for a tying TD.

Is the play still going because there was not a whistle blown even though the official was signaling the play over?

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NFHS, NFL: signals do not kill the play.

NCAA: by rule a signal alone can kill the play.

Thanks.

You say in NCAA it "can" kill the play. Are there other requirements for "can" to be "shall?"

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I saw this on the highlights as well. I think the play should have died. He was definitely signalling (why? Whotheeffknows?) and people saw him. VERY surprised this wasn't reviewed or even complained about.

Any sort of "dead ball" signal by an official is an expression by that official of his judgment that the ball is already dead. Why should that judgment be allowed to be over-ruled? Otherwise, why give all the officials whistles?

The only counter-argument I could see to this one is that "Stop the clock" is to be taken as a signal to the timekeeper only, not the players, and in case the ball wasn't really dead the error can be corrected by taking some time off the clock after the error is discovered. In that case, the official can always blow a whistle if he really wants to kill the ball.

Yes, it must be a signal that kills the play (time out, TD, INC would kill it, tipped ball would not).

Here's the rule (NCAA 4-1-2):

"A live ball becomes a dead ball as provided in the rules or when
an official sounds his whistle (even though inadvertently) or otherwise signals
the ball dead (A.R. 4-2-1-II and A.R. 4-2-4-I)."


The NFHS and NFL inadvertent whistle provisions do not add "or otherwise signals the ball dead."

This one is not about one official overruling another. This official obviously had an "OH SH!+" moment (just like any normal IW moment), stopped his signal and hoped nobody noticed. And strangely no one on site did.

There's no need for logic, argument, or counter-argument here. It's written into the IW rule rather explicitly.

You can see the scoring team's coach trying to get his team off the field so they can attempt the PAT before it can be reviewed.

I meant "overruled" in the sense of failure to be recognized or honored.