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You Make the Call - Sept. 18

I

ih8auburn

BamaNation Citizen
Aug 14, 2006
30
0
0
44
Since the official discovers the tee following the extra point, the extra point stands and the team is warned of the violation. The official must check the tee before the game or before the play. Once the play is over, the play stands.
 
B

bamajake

1st Team
Sep 27, 2001
691
1
37
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
Since the official discovers the tee following the extra point, the extra point stands and the team is warned of the violation. The official must check the tee before the game or before the play. Once the play is over, the play stands.
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I was wondering when someone was going to say that. This is what I was thinking when Jref made his "illogical enforcement" statement. This is the general rule when player equipment such as pads, chinstrap, mouthpiece, etc are involved. If we see a player with an unsnapped chinstrap, for example, after the play is over, we do not penalize it. We tell him to snap it before the next play. We do this because we can't say for sure if the snap came loose during the play or whether he unsnapped it on purpose. With the tee, we can be certain that it did not change into wood and grow during the play. Just because the referee checks the tee before the game doesn't mean that a team will not use something different during the game. Officials check the game balls before every game. Still, we often have the ball boy (or girl) bring in balls that have not been checked. When that happens, the umpire can throw it out and direct that a legal ball that has been checked be brought in. Of course, additional balls can be approved after the game starts and, if the "unchecked" ball that is brought in is otherwise legal, the referee can approve its use and we can play with it.

I do agree that the referee should have seen the illegal tee before the play was run and directed the players to get it off of the field before the ball was snapped. That is called preventative officiating and should be practiced by all officials.
 
J

Jref

1st Team
Oct 3, 2001
551
0
0
Tuscaloosa, AL
bamajake said:
I do agree that the referee should have seen the illegal tee before the play was run and directed the players to get it off of the field before the ball was snapped. That is called preventative officiating and should be practiced by all officials.
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I haven't seen a team use a wooden tee in over 25 years. The rubber or plastic tees that all teams use now are all legal when manufactured. To be honest, I don't even look at the kicking tee, other than to alert my other officials that "there's a tee on the field." Thanks to this discussion, I'll be more vigilant from now on.

However, it's still hard for me to believe that the rules makers intended to allow a team to score on a play where they intentionally used a piece of illegal equipment. That flies in the face of common sense.
 
NYBamaFan

NYBamaFan

Suspended
Feb 2, 2002
23,320
14
0
Blairstown, NJ
bamajake said:
As I said before, I agree with the unsportsmanlike conduct analysis. However, I still believe the kick is an illegal kick:

Rule 1-24, Article 9 says: "An illegal kick is any intentional striking of the ball with the knee, lower leg or foot which does not comply with Articles 3 and 4."

Rule 1-24, Article 4 says, "A scrimmage kick is any legal kick from in or behind the neutral zone. Either a place kick, punt, or drop kick may be used. For a place kick, the ball must be controlled on the ground or on a legal tee by a teammate."

When you read these articles, you have an intentional striking of the ball with the foot that does not comply with Article 4. For that reason, I believe that it is an illegal kick.

I think I have come up with the ultimate solution to this mess. If you agree with my analysis that it is an illegal kick, you have a live ball penalty. Penalize the Panthers 15 yards for the illegal kick and replay the down. I.e., take the point off of the board and they can try again. However, that is not all that you have. I agree that the use of the tee is unsportsmanlike conduct against the head coach for the Panthers. Remember, the unsportsmanlike conduct foul did not occur until the time that the illegal equipment was used. It is also a live ball foul. Normally, when a team commits two live ball fouls, the other team can only accept one of the penalties. However, if one of the fouls is an unsportsmanlike conduct foul, the other team may accept both penalties. That is to say, take the point off of the board and penalize the Panthers 15 yards for the illegal kick and then add on the 15 yards for the unsportsmanlike conduct foul by the coach. This way, you penalize the players for using the illegal tee and penalize the coach for cheating.

Of course ... if you take this course, you will most likely be adding an additional 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejecting the coach when he has a meltdown after you mark off 30 yards and take the point away. That'll teach the coach not to come on my field and cheat!
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I thought that an illegal kick was only a 5 yard penalty. Am I wrong?
 
B

bamajake

1st Team
Sep 27, 2001
691
1
37
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
Illegal kicking or batting is a 15 yard penalty.

Now for bonus points. If I am correct that it is an illegal kick, what is the enforcement spot of the penalty, i.e., is the 15 yards measured from the line of scrimmage or from the spot of the kick?
 
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