GUNTERSVOL
VOL FROM BIRTH
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Let me see if I can break the rule down some to eliminate confusion. (Underlined statements are the text of the rule)
ARTICLE 2. a. A live ball becomes a dead ball
as provided in the rules - Possibility #1 - The "rules" say you are "down" if any part of your body (except for feet and hands) comes into contact with the ground, if you run out of bounds, score, etc. A live ball becomes a dead ball when a legal forward pass hits the ground.
or when an official sounds their whistle (even though inadvertently) - Possibility #2 - This is the commonly understood "end of a play" signal. We have all been taught and those of us that coach have coached to "PLAY TO THE WHISTLE"!
or otherwise signals the ball dead (A.R. 4-2-1-II and A.R. 4-2-4-I). - Possibility #3 - This is the answer to your question. An official can judge forward progress stopped and mark it at that spot. The whistle comes late...after the judgement occurs. "when a ball carrier is so held that his forward progress is stopped. When in question, the ball is dead (A.R. 4-2-1-II)." The doofus judged that his progress had been stopped so he made that call. My main gripe again is that he had time to realize his screw-up between the time he made his decision and the time he got to the white hat.
The whistle does not have to be present to rule the play dead. It never has. This call was bungled all the way around. I think they knew he screwed up so they made it worse by saying it was going to review, when that is not allowed in a play that forward progress was ruled to have stopped. Comparing this one to the Ole Miss play, I have a bigger issue with that one. At no time did I ever see an official "act" to stop a play. They waited until we were in the endzone to "fix" it. If they had ruled forward progress on the field, they wouldn't have trailed the play all the way to the endzone. They would have blown it dead at some point before it got that far.
What really sucks is if he would have just ruled that his knee was down and not his forward progress stopped, that could have been reviewed and overturned.
Yes the rule 4-3 Ball Declared Dead does explicitly define that the ref can make the progress call and that the end result is that the ball becomes dead , but it also says they SHALL sound their whistle or declare it dead because it immediately follows 4-2 which previously defined the timing,of when a Live Ball Becomes Dead...... when an official sounds their whistle (even though inadvertently) or otherwise signals the ball dead. Furthermore rule 5-3 Just a few inches away says ...Forward Progress ARTICLE 3. a. The most forward point of the ball when declared dead. NOT at some ambiguous point in time in some official's head.
All three of these key rules are in direct conflict with your position that the whistle or some verifiable signal does not have to be present to change a live ball to a dead ball on a progress call and that progress is possible and reviewable until it does. Spot the ball at it's most forward point attained at the time it is legally declared dead. Like I said, I heard a whistle, what is the problem. Now if replay had a prior whistle or signal they can provide I am good with it. A live ball can only become a dead ball once each play and progress and the legal defensive resistance of it is possible until it is.
edited to add on 1/15
In my never ending search for relative data I want to add the following... to address the concept that an officials initial judgement call that progress was stopped is end all and cannot be adjusted by replay I want to include the most similar call to progress on a running play and that is a ball being judged out of bounds by an official and him establishing an initial spot with that belief and it not being absolute. Also Rule 4.
Out of Bounds at Forward Point ARTICLE 4. a. If a live ball is declared out of bounds and the ball does not cross a boundary line, it is out of bounds at the ball’s most forward point when it was declared dead.
Obviously not necessarily where the guy first put his foot down on the line. You can't put the bullet back in the gun but you do allow all the legal yardage gained till it is blown dead.
Notice the similarity in circumstance. This guy ran to establish a spot where the thought progress was stopped just like the guy who thought it crossed a line, it obviously was not since the ball broke the plane, and just like this instance the correct adjusted spot should be the progress spot when the ball is legally declared dead not the original assumption. The play is over and additional yardage when applicable cannot be recovered but declaration of dead ball spot overrules the initial judgement. That would be with a whistle or some significant as yet undefined group of signals. I am guessing that 99.99 percent of all plays ever have been declared dead with the whistle.
Where was the ball when the ball was legally declared dead?
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