The Rams attempted to catch everyone off guard with a quick substitution/fake punt in the first quarter of the game against the Giants. The play eventually wound up confusing everyone watching the game as well. The Fox Sports broadcast crew had to dump out of the replay of the third down
Author: Ben Austro
Ben Austro is the editor and founder of Football Zebras and the author of So You Think You Know Football?: The Armchair Ref's Guide to the Official Rules (on sale now)
Double punt flummoxed rules gurus and statisticians
Seahawks punter Michael Dickson grew up playing Australian rules football in his hometown of Sydney, and he imported some of the kick-heavy game to Seattle on Thursday night. Dickson's third quarter punt was blocked with enough backspin to have it skittering in the open backfield. Because the ball is behind the
Close-call on a potential walk-off safety is the Call of the Week
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson retreated all the way to the goal line, and by all appearances, this would have been a walk-off safety in overtime. But referee John Hussey and down judge Sarah Thomas piece together the end of the play, and it is our Call of the Week. https://streamable.com/epkvpv
NFL replay VP takes administrative leave in awkward officiating transition
The offseason turmoil in the replay area of the officiating department continues, as vice president of replay Russell Yurk has formally taken an elective administrative leave. Yurk has been away from replay during the preseason, and apparently was reassigned "within the officiating group." It follows last month's announcement that Al
Week 1 officiating liveblog
Football Zebras is covering the officials and rules interpretations for the opening Sunday of the 2021 regular season. If you see anything confusing or unusual please let us know. Leave a comment below Send us a tweet @footballzebras Connect with us through Facebook Reply on Instagram Live updates loading ...
2 Seahawks players changed to jersey numbers that aren’t available for their position
Football Zebras analysis This year created a gold rush for low-numbered jerseys as the league changed its rules to open up large spans of desirable numbers to multiple positions. In the process, some Seahawks players grabbed numbers that were apparently out of the range for their position. While compiling the list of
The NFL’s 3 changes under the hood of replay that could have mixed results
There are several changes in the replay area which are going to have a profound impact on the 2021 season. Most notably, as previously reported, the replay leadership has been completely changed. Al Riveron retired as senior vice president of officiating, and Russell Yurk has been removed from replay duties despite
NFL requires officials and gameday staff to be vaccinated
While players and coaches have made their own personal decisions as to whether they receive the covid vaccine, the NFL has made it mandatory for the officials and league employees to be vaccinated. The vaccine mandate applies unilaterally to the gameday assistants. The GDAs include the clock operators, replay technicians, the
Officiating community reacts to Art McNally becoming a Hall of Fame finalist
Art McNally, the former referee and supervisor of officials, was nominated as the contributor finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The next step is a virtually assured vote from the entire voting membership of the Hall's selection committee, and then enshrinement in August 2022. His extensive accomplishments were part