Is there anyone (in an official capacity) monitoring the communications that are sent in to the Quarterback’s headset? What prevents a team from having someone radio the player when he is being threatened from his blindside or has a guy open that he may not be in position to see?
Hardly worth the trouble, I’d think. Takes time to intercept and relay information. By the time you did so, and the person receiving it had a chance to process it, you’re three plays farther along. Besides, all it would take would be one obvious play to reveal the whole affair and cost you fines, loss of draft picks, and other nastiness the league would apply. Better to just have properly alert defensive players.
He’s not asking about espionage. He’s asking if your own coach (assuming you’re the QB) can give a heads-up during an actual play. eg: “Roll right quick, Smith’s open down the middle.” Obviously it’s against the rules to do this. The OP is asking how the rule is enforced.
As far as I am aware, the communication is shut off with 15 seconds left on the play clock. I’ve always assumed that a league official controls the button turning the mics on and off, but I have no cite.
I don’t mean intercepting the play call. I mean communicating directly to the QB as the play is under way, to assist the offense. There probably are regulations in place but we see teams bend the rules all the time.
ETA: Simulpost, yeah that’s what I’m getting at; I’ve been assuming the same thing but who knows?
From a practical standpoint having someone yelling in your ear in the middle of the play might be more distracting then helpful. Picking out a free receiver happens in just a few seconds at best and the QB is often in a better position to make the call rather then someone on the sideline or up in the booth. There are guys on the field yelling things all the time that the QB should be listening for, rather then someone yelling in his ear.
Right answer. Except, from ESPN :
The cutoff is done manually? Why wouldn’t it be wired into the playclock?
Probably because the play clock in the stadium is controlled by the home team’s press box. The official game clock is kept by an official and wiring it to the headsets introduces an unnecessary level of complexity.
I think the scoreboard is the official time; I don’t think any officials keep time separately like they do in soccer.
Coaching like that may not work, but imagine if there were a tone that meant “sack from your blind side, unload the ball now” - a QB could have a conditioned response to something that simple, and save yardage from sacks. (There could be a tone for “look long down the sideline”, “duck and cover, you’re about to get flattened”, etc.)
Pavlov’s QB? I like it.
Also, how many times have you seen the referees have to reset the playclock? If it were perfect and worked all the time as intended, then it could be a lot more seamless. The fact that they have trouble starting it on time every time isn’t good for this matter.
No the scoreboard is not always official. Thats why when you see the scoreboard go down to 0, or the play clock, they don’t always blow the whistle. Its sometims can be off by up to .5 secs.
Why not just have a bass drum on the sideline? That would get around it without having anything to do with the play clock or electronics.