![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.referee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Official-Player-Communication-Influences-Conduct.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
T<\/span>rying to manage a football game\u00a0would be nearly impossible without\u00a0effective and pointed communication.\u00a0Although managing players is\u00a0primarily the responsibility of the\u00a0coaching staff, officials can facilitate\u00a0the conduct of the game if specific\u00a0officials manage certain players.<\/p>\n To do that, officials must talk with\u00a0players frequently. There are a few\u00a0special relationships and here are the\u00a0most notable ones.<\/p>\n The\u00a0referee\u2019s first priority is the\u00a0quarterback. No other official should\u00a0be observing that player unless he\u00a0runs the ball beyond the line or goes\u00a0out of bounds. The referee helps\u00a0protect the quarterback not only\u00a0by holding late-hitting defenders\u00a0accountable, but also by deterring\u00a0unnecessary contact through his\u00a0presence and the use of his voice.<\/p>\n When Joe Namath was playing for\u00a0the New York Jets, he wanted extra\u00a0protection for his receivers \u2014 to a\u00a0point. In a game against the Houston\u00a0Oilers, a defensive back made a good\u00a0play on one of Namath\u2019s receivers,\u00a0coming over the top, hitting the ball\u00a0and then knocking the receiver to the\u00a0ground. Namath turned to referee\u00a0John McDonough and said, \u201cFor\u00a0God\u2019s sake! Why don\u2019t you go down\u00a0there and call something? They\u2019re\u00a0jumping all over my receivers.\u201d<\/p>\n A TV timeout followed, so\u00a0McDonough went over to Namath\u00a0and pointed to the Oilers front four.\u00a0\u201cThey run about 265 pounds each\u00a0and they got one thing on their mind.\u00a0They\u2019re going to rip your head right\u00a0off your shoulders. So, on the next\u00a0four or five plays, you\u2019d better protect\u00a0yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d said\u00a0Broadway Joe.<\/p>\n McDonough replied, \u201cEvery time\u00a0you throw the ball, Joe, I\u2019m standing\u00a0right next to you hollering, \u2018Don\u2019t hit\u00a0him. He\u2019s dead.\u2019 So those guys know\u00a0you\u2019ve released the ball and they peel\u00a0away and don\u2019t hit you. But I\u2019m not\u00a0going to be here for the next four or\u00a0five plays. I\u2019m gonna run downfield\u00a0and make sure they don\u2019t mess with\u00a0your receivers.\u201d Namath quickly\u00a0replied, \u201cYou stay right here. The hell\u00a0with the receivers!\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, the referee can use\u00a0his relationship with the quarterback\u00a0to take care of problem players,\u00a0but here is an actual scenario of\u00a0excessive protection. The passer was\u00a0flushed from the pocket and fled\u00a0toward the sidelines only to reverse\u00a0himself and flee the opposite way.\u00a0He finally threw the ball, complete,\u00a0but stood bent over and gasping\u00a0for breath after the frantic run. The\u00a0referee, approaching him, ordered a\u00a0teammate to kneel and untie his shoe.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re going to take an equipment\u00a0timeout until you are back to\u00a0breathing easily.\u201d<\/p>\n The lower the\u00a0level of play, the more dialogue is\u00a0necessary. A premature snap can\u00a0make a game ugly in a heartbeat.\u00a0While that act is clearly a foul, it can\u00a0easily be prevented. The penalty is\u00a0five yards for delay of game (NFHS\u00a03-6-2e; NCAA 3-4-2b-6, 4-1-4).<\/p>\n Long snappers inevitably prefer\u00a0the laces in a different position than\u00a0the regular snapper so fingers can\u00a0grip the laces. Some long snappers\u00a0like to move the ball forward to\u00a0gain momentum before passing it\u00a0backward and the umpire should\u00a0address that as necessary.<\/p>\n As the referee is with the\u00a0quarterback, the umpire is the\u00a0protector of the snapper. When\u00a0the offense is in a scrimmage kick\u00a0formation, he should remind the\u00a0defense to not hit the snapper. Under\u00a0NFHS rules, in that formation, no\u00a0defensive player may charge directly\u00a0into the snapper. The protection exists\u00a0until the snapper can protect\u00a0himself, blocks or otherwise moves\u00a0to participate in the play. \u201cProtect\u00a0himself\u201d means the snapper has time\u00a0to look up and regain his balance.\u00a0If contacted directly while his head\u00a0is still down and before he has been\u00a0given a chance to look up, the contact\u00a0is likely to be a foul. If the contact is\u00a0slight and indirect, it is unlikely to be\u00a0a foul.<\/p>\n In NCAA play, no defensive\u00a0player may initiate contact with the\u00a0snapper until one second has elapsed\u00a0after the snap. In both codes, the\u00a0protection exists whether or not there\u00a0is a kick and the penalty is a personal\u00a0foul for roughing the snapper, a\u00a015-yard penalty with an automatic\u00a0first down (NFHS 2-32-14, 9-4-6;\u00a0NCAA 9-1-14).<\/p>\n The dialogue is essential, especially\u00a0because most of it should take place\u00a0before the game begins. The back\u00a0judge should know how many\u00a0players are in the formation, and if\u00a0there are less than 11, he should ask\u00a0the kicker to count his teammates.\u00a0They should also advise the\u00a0kicker if any player is in a position\u00a0that would result in a foul when the\u00a0ready is blown (NFHS) or the ball is\u00a0kicked (NCAA).<\/p>\n The back judge can help prevent\u00a0a premature kick (one before the\u00a0ready is blown) by communicating to\u00a0the kicker how it will be made clear\u00a0to him that it is OK to kick the ball.\u00a0In many stadiums, the crowd may\u00a0preclude hearing the referee\u2019s ready\u00a0whistle. Some back judges prefer to\u00a0point at the kicker when the ready is\u00a0blown.<\/p>\n On\u00a0the first punt for each team, remind\u00a0the receiver how to signal properly. A\u00a0valid fair catch signal is the extending\u00a0and lateral waving of one arm, clearly\u00a0above the head, by any member of\u00a0the receiving team. NFHS specifies\u00a0at full arm\u2019s length and NCAA\u00a0stipulates more than one wave.\u00a0Examples of invalid signals include:\u00a0a limp wave, partially extending\u00a0and waving one hand in front of the\u00a0face or chest and fully extending and\u00a0laterally waving both heads above\u00a0the head. Any waving signal should\u00a0be interpreted as an invalid signal\u00a0and the play whistled dead when\u00a0a player obtains possession. When\u00a0a receiver shades his eyes during a\u00a0kick, he must do so with a bent arm\u00a0and without waving so it cannot\u00a0be interpreted as an invalid signal\u00a0(NFHS 2-9-3, 2-9-4; NCAA 2-8).<\/p>\n The officials\u00a0on the sideline don\u2019t have a\u00a0relationship with a specific player but communicating properly with\u00a0the widest player in the formation as\u00a0to whether he is on or off the line is\u00a0essential. An official should never tell\u00a0a player who isn\u2019t where he wants to\u00a0be, to move. That will likely get the\u00a0official blamed for causing a foul.<\/p>\n The post Official\/Player Communication Influences Conduct<\/a> appeared first on Referee.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Trying to manage a football game\u00a0would be nearly impossible without\u00a0effective and pointed communication.\u00a0Although managing players is\u00a0primarily the responsibility of the\u00a0coaching staff, officials can facilitate\u00a0the conduct of the game if specific\u00a0officials manage certain players. To do that, officials must talk with\u00a0players frequently. There are a few\u00a0special relationships and here are the\u00a0most notable ones. Referee\/Quarterback The\u00a0referee\u2019s first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1028,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1027","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/1027"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/1027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Referee\/Quarterback<\/h2>\n
Umpire\/Snapper<\/h2>\n
Back judge\/Kicker (kickoffs)<\/h2>\n
Back judge\/Punt returner<\/h2>\n
Wing officials<\/h2>\n