I see a lot of sports where I work. It’s a t.v. network dedicated to sports. I noticed something that doesn’t make sense.
When a play is over, the ball is handed/tossed to the Ref. He places the ball on the appropriate yard line. He does NOT walk the ball to center of the line. He places it pretty much where the play ended.
Since this is frequently not in the middle of the field ( speaking side to side, of course ), doesn’t this ball placement greatly affect what type of play the team with the ball can run?
If a ball is run out of bounds, what is the rule as to where the ball is placed, on the given line where it left the field of play?
Am I not aware of it, but in fact am seeing the Ref move the ball within a certain middle area of the field?
How does this work? Having the two teams smooshed up against the sideline is something you never see. Why did I see the Ref put the ball down on a yard line, but not in the middle of the line?
If you look closely at the yard line, you’ll see short lines perpendicular to it a ways in from the sideline. If the play ends outside the hash mark, the ball is brought to the nearest. It’s that way in the pros too, but the marks are much closer to center than in college.
Yeah, it affects the plays somewhat, but not much. It’s in far enough that teams can still run all their formations. On a short field goal, it can make the angle very sharp.
You see those hash marks running horizontally across the field? A bit above and a bit below the horizontal center of the field? If the play ends within that band, the ball is spotted right where the play ended.
On the other hand, if they play ends outside of that band, the next play begins on the hash mark closest to the end of the play.
It most certainly does affect the next play. You have more room to the wide part of the field,
so a sweep that way might mean more yards gained before you reach the sideline.
Just for further enlightenment. The hash marks are 53 ft 4 in from each sideline in college and high school football, 70 ft 9 in from the sideline in the NFL and 72 ft in in the CFL.
This was not always the case. There used to be no hash marks and the ball was always spotted where the play ended. This used to lead to cases where the there might be only one player to one side of the center. (I seem to recall that the center could not be at the end of the line, but I may only be recalling that the center could not be an eligible receiver. I can’t find a history of the football rules). I’m not sure what they did if the ball actually went out of bound. I assume they did not mark it right on the sideline.
As a follow-up question, why isn’t this the opposite? If we assume that the closer to the center of the field you begin the play, the easier it is, why do they make college and high school teams place the ball potentially closer to the sidelines?
I believe they used to be the same. I do know the NFL moved the hash marks closer to the middle of the field in the early 70s. The stated reason was they wanted to create more offense. It probably worked. As I recall either that season or the next season something like 8 backs gained over 1000 yards in one season. Prior to that, there were I think only about a dozen backs in history who’d done that. The single running back offense (i.e., using an extra receiver instead) has also contributed to the increase in the number of 1000 yard seasons as has the increase in the schedule from 12 to 14 to 16 games. I think however, the one-back set is a later development, and the increase to 14 games was in the 60s while the increase to 16 games was much later.
Thanks ! Interesting- I suspect that some very bizarre plays resulted from the older potentially off-balance method. Wonder if it ever cost someone a game ??
The head ref (white hat) doesn’t usually handle the ball, the umpire puts the ball down in most cases. (sorry, too many officiating family members to let that slide)