Okay, on the last play of the Giants-Niners fiasco the guard who got clubbered as he went out for the final pass was an eligible receiver – he had “reported in” as an eligible receiver.
In fact there are a lot of situations where dubiously eligible players “report in” as receivers. (Maybe as other things too – I don’t know.)
How EXACTLY does that work? The guy goes up to the ref before the play and salutes?
Or does where he line up – say, at the line or behind it – signify that he’s “reporting in.” (If so, it’s a really stupid turn of phrase to use.)
Or is it worked out before the game somehow? One article I read said that the guard had “reported in” but that the ref had probably forgotten he was eligible. So it sounds like the transaction took place long before the play was begun.
Another thing, does the other team get notified when someone “reports in”? Did they know, for example, that the guard was eligible. If so, how?
To adress part of your question;
The player you refer to had reprted to the refs that he was going to be an eligible reciever on all punts and field goals before the game had started.
I think this will answer the question regarding the other team getting notified.
The defense in any situation can tell who the eligible receivers are based on how they line up. There has to be 7 and only 7 men on the line of scrimmage, and anyone on the LOS who is “covered up” (has someone on the LOS line up outside of them) by another man on the LOS is ineligible.
So if a guard wearing #60 lines up on the end of the line in a field goal attempt, he must have reported as eligible.
I just heard an interview with the Giants player in question Rich Seubert. He reported in before the game indicating that he would be eligible on field goals. The ref puts that down on a card. He ALSO reported in just before the play to remind the officials, or at least claimed that was standard procedure. In fact, he said that other members of the line would often also remind the ref, they are apparently a bit anal about the whole thing.
Well, they don’t want linemen breaking up the play and running downfield for passes. It also makes it very difficult on the defense if they can go downfield. A lineman could just release the guy he’s blocking, and go for a pass, there would be nobody to cover him. Therefore, the defensive lineman would have to worry about pass coverage rather than attacking the quarterback or defending against the run.
By making linemen ineligible, it sets up the confrontation at the line and doesn’t allow it to be destroyed by silly plays. Alternately, they don’t want to totally restrict the play, so players can report as eligible if the individual play requires it.
I think you mean AT LEAST 7 men. I see plays all the time where the is the quarterback and 1 running back is behind the line and everybody else is on the LOS (like in a “hail Mary”). I think the #60 does not have to report as eligible unless he plans to run a route (but it would make sense to report just in case). I also think it is illegal to catch an offensive pass if you are wearing a number in the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s unless you report. Me thinks.
You can have more than 7, but ONLY the outside men are eligible. You could potentially have a goal line play with 9 lineman, a QB, and a RB, and only the outside men are eligible.
FWIW–a formation with an extra lineman on one side (the lineup would go TE-T-G-C-G-T-TE-TE) is known as “unbalanced”
It didn’t happen prior to the play being discussed, but I have seen the referee announce to the entire stadium by way of his microphone which lineman just reported in as an eligible receiver.
This seems to happen more on two-point conversions and other short-yardage type plays, but the announcement to the entire world about it seems to be an individual referee preference.
The referee makes an announcement about a player with an ineligible number being an eligible receiver when it’s not a kick attempt.
This usually happens in short yardage situations when a team brings in an extra lineman in place of the tight end or as an additional tight end.
For the kicking plays, the officials find out before the game so they don’t have to make the announcement over and over.
In college and high school football, a player wearing numbers 50-79 can NEVER line up in an eligible position without drawing a penalty.
Pittsburgh lost to Notre Dame this in part because the Panthers drew a couple of illegal formation penalties on an extra point attempt. The coach did not realize that one of the players lining up on the end had an illegal number. After the penalties, the Pittsburgh kicker missed the extra point, which proved to be crucial in the game.
Not quite… according to Section 4, Article 2a of the NCAA football Rules, “at least 5 offensive players on the scrimmage line shall be numbered 50 through 79”[except on fake kicks].
That’s how they manage the swinging gate and other plays like that.
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