Judgments are a large part of football officiating. All rules require some degree of judgment. Perhaps the simplest application is determining whether a team has too many players on the field. All an official must do is count properly (it doesn’t always happen). At the other end of the spectrum are calls that require a large degree of judgment. Those include pass interference, holding and targeting. […]
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Judgments are a large part of football officiating. All rules require some degree of judgment. Perhaps the simplest application is determining whether a team has too many players on the field. All an official must do is count properly (it doesn’t always happen). At the other end of the spectrum are calls that require a large degree of judgment. Those include pass interference, holding and targeting.
Here’s a list of qualities starting with D from Steve Shaw, CCA National Coordinator of Football Officials, that, if employed, can help any official improve and find football success. Desire Without a desire to improve, we won’t be willing to do the little things and invest the time it takes to get to the top of the heap.
In most seasons, false starts are the most frequently occurring fouls and arguably the foul that requires the second least amount of judgment (calling 12 players in the formation doesn’t require much judgment). But every foul requires some degree of discretion before the flag is thrown. For various reasons there are three fouls that seem
Back judges are often undervalued in a crew of five. Perhaps that stems from the many prep teams that run the ball much more often than pass it. Additionally, the deep official frequently takes on a “fail safe” role and only appears to be active on long gains from scrimmage and punts. We know that is far from the truth. The back judge should
The idea of a flag being waved off brings to mind an overbearing referee trumping the decision of a younger crewmate. That has happened on occasion but picking up a flag can be a prescribed mechanic and it can also be smart officiating. That’s not to say picking up a flag should be done very often, and it certainly is not a crutch to
The idea of a flag being waved off brings to mind an overbearing referee trumping the decision of a younger crewmate. That has happened on occasion but picking up a flag can be a prescribed mechanic and it can also be smart officiating. That’s not to say picking up a flag should be done very often, and it certainly is not a crutch to
Even if you are too young to have watched the TV show, you should be familiar with the Lone Ranger, a fictional character that has become an enduring icon of American culture. He is a masked ex-Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. His alter ego
Two huge mistakes that officials can make are ball-watching and officiating air. The former means watching the runner to the exclusion of what’s happening around him. The latter means focusing on areas where nothing is going on instead of shifting our eyes to where something is happening. Both prevent us from seeing things we need to see. That problem, moreover, afflicts veterans and newer officials. At times,
Two huge mistakes that officials can make are ball-watching and officiating air. The former means watching the runner to the exclusion of what’s happening around him. The latter means focusing on areas where nothing is going on instead of shifting our eyes to where something is happening. Both prevent us from seeing things we need to see. That problem, moreover, afflicts veterans and newer officials. At times,