3/12/2023 0 Comments Football signals![]() So I decided that when one person killed the clock, we’d all echo it. Also, some contest timekeepers notified me of missed signals. If they forgot, I’d chide them gently afterward. I resorted to insisting that they wave twice. Before they uttered a word, I’d say, “Have you stopped the clock?” Often, I’d get “Oops, no” for a reply, but before long I had them trained. ![]() The problem was getting officials to kill the clock before reporting live-ball fouls. They were so anxious to report their violation that they just made a spirited dash to me and stuttered through their description, puffing excitedly. I know I had my troubles when I formed a crew back in the Midwest several decades ago. Miscommunication about the clock happens a lot in prep games. I know all that because I saw it from the press box I had been assigned to observe the crew. Even lining up and spiking the ball would have been impossible. If the clock had been started properly on the ready, it is unlikely that team A would have been able to run a play. How did that happen? Because there was no communication between the line judge and the referee about the status of the clock. Nor did any other crewmember insert himself into the situation to verify clock status. The referee assumed the play had carried out of bounds. Hence, team A huddled, lined up and completed another pass in the end zone for the winning score as time expired. The clock should have been restarted, but it wasn’t. The line judge stopped the clock for the first down and relayed the ball to the back judge, who flipped it to the umpire for placement at the hash. The play had ended, however, about a yard inside the field of play. A 20-yard pass to team B’s 20 yardline, caught near the sideline, gave team A a first down with about five seconds left. The process went like this. Time was running out for team A, no timeouts left, ball on team B’s 40 yardline. Recently I witnessed a victory that was essentially accomplished through timing errors by the officials.
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