The first act of the actual Super Bowl game is the coin toss to see who gets the ball first. Believe it or not, there are set mechanics for regular season coin tosses. But in the Super Bowl, the NFL layers extra features with honorary captains, former players, former presidents
Tag: mechanics
Good whistle discipline is vital to good officiating
Referee Scott Novak and umpire Ramon George faced a difficult and potentially dangerous play in Week 14: a fumble scramble turned into a surprising touchdown run for the Miami Dolphins. https://streamable.com/gshb65 There a few mechanics things to unpack here. See leather! When there's a fumble and the ball disappears under a pile of several
2 generations of officials are at polar opposites when signaling the big call
A few weeks ago, our own Cam Filipe posted his Call of the Week, and he noted the calm, under-control signal by the covering official. https://twitter.com/footballzebras/status/1572626534661341184 "This isn't the 1980s," Cam noted. I resemble that remark! But it did cause me to reflect on how officials signal a call and how the
Football officials free to leave the field when the game is over
The end of this week's Monday Night Football game featured some angry moments as both teams came together to shake hands at the end of a hard-fought game. https://streamable.com/6a966d While plenty of media reported the incident, you'll notice the officials were nowhere to be found. That's because the officials' responsibility ends the moment
When the bean bag does more than mark change of possession
Look for the umpire and back judge to spot the ball during 2-minute drill
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
Let them talk! We need detailed referee announcements
Over the years, we've chronicled the evolution of the referee microphone, from it's humble beginnings to it being used as a valuable teaching and explaining tool. While some people might have snickered or rolled their eyes at long-winded announcements, they could not deny they knew what happened and why the officials
