Football Zebras

Look for the umpire and back judge to spot the ball during 2-minute drill

by Mark Schultz - January 30, 2022January 30, 2022 01554

There was a ton of consternation this playoff season about the officials spotting the ball during the frantic final seconds of the football game. If there is a two-minute drill this weekend, here is what should happen. First of all, look for players to assist the officials in getting the ball spotted. https://streamable.com/cppnc6 The

In the chaos of a fumble scrum, how officials seek a quick resolution of possession

Mechanics

by Mark Schultz - December 17, 2021December 17, 2021 02483

Football officials have mechanics for everything. Believe it or not, they even have mechanics for a pile up and fumble scrum. It is critical for the officials to get to the bottom of the pile and determine possession as soon as possible. First of all, possession can change hands under the

For NFL officials, thankfully it is not 2020 anymore

by Mark Schultz - September 11, 2021September 11, 2021 02305

When I wrote a recap of the 2020 season, I closed my column by saying "may we never again have another like it." This season, covid-19 is still with us, but for the officials, it will not be a repeat of 2020. Vaccines The NFL reported that 99% of its employees have been

Alternate officials will keep their eye out for simulated substitutions, after the Packers attempted it twice

by Cameron Filipe - January 24, 2021January 24, 2021 04652

Embed from Getty Images Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers loves to move his offense to the line of scrimmage quickly and snap the ball in an attempt to catch the defense off-guard, and perhaps with too many men on the field. Even the late great Alex Trebek knew this. However,

The NFL umpire is more stationary this season

Mechanics

by Mark Schultz - December 31, 2020December 31, 2020 03464

This year, Walt Anderson, senior vice president of officiating training and development, trained the officials to get in position and be stationary at the apex of a play. The philosophy is that a stationary official's eyes will be still and he'll be able to zero in and focus on the

With a thin bench, the NFL hopes to have full crews for the final weeks of the season

by Mark Schultz - December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 03904

NFL teams have no more bye weeks for the rest of the 2020 season. That means only one crew will be on a bye week in Week 17 (16 games, 17 crews). With covid-19 a constant threat, the NFL has to be crossing its fingers that full crews of seven will be

NFL officiating is focusing on end-of-half procedures

by Ben Austro - December 10, 2020December 11, 2020 06891

A scramble at the end of the first half of the Monday evening game has the NFL officiating department focusing on their procedures when there is a running clock at the end of the half. With seconds to go in the second quarter without timeouts on 3rd & 16 from

Players now helping officials during hurry-up offense

Mechanics

by Mark Schultz - November 11, 2020November 11, 2020 03849

The final, thrilling, frantic seconds of a football game is always stressful. For the officials, the pressure builds. One of their prime responsibilities is to get the ball ready for play and not cause an unfair delay to the offense. Over the years, the officials have developed ball relays down to

Electronic whistles too quiet for stand-alone option

by Mark Schultz - October 1, 2020October 1, 2020 06218

In order to prevent the spread of covid-19 through the air, the NFL and the NCAA wants its officials to wear a mask as much as possible. This means the officials have to modify their whistle technique. So, this year many officials are using electronic whistles (you can see the whistle

What happens when the crew doesn’t notice a challenge flag?

by Cameron Filipe - September 25, 2020September 25, 2020 04178

Embed from Getty Images In two different games from the Week 2 slate of NFL games, the challenge flag became a point of conversation. In the Sunday night game in Seattle, the crew failed to notice a challenge flag thrown by Patriots head coach Bill Belichick before the start of the