# Whats a BJ? american football related **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226 "2001-11-19T17:07:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![King\_Hobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/59ef9b/32.png) [@King\_Hobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Hobo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/1 "2001-11-19T17:07:39Z")
As denotated by the initials on the back of their black and white stripes, we have a [ul][li] **U** mpire[_] **R** eferee[_] **F** ield **J** udge **L** ine **J** udge[/ul][/li] But what kind of judge is the **BJ**? Back Judge? Also, what is the difference between the referee and the umpire in (U.S.) football? I know in baseball there is no referee, just an ump, but they seem like they do the same job. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/2 "2001-11-19T17:15:38Z")
BJ is indeed Back Judge. [http://www.nfl.com/news/rulesdigest.html](http://www.nfl.com/news/rulesdigest.html) gives descriptions of the various officials’ duties. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/3 "2001-11-19T17:20:23Z")
BJ is indeed the Back Judge, although outside of football it obviously has other meanings. 😃 I’m often amazed at the kind of stuff you can find on the Internet. See: [http://football.refs.org/mechanics/](http://football.refs.org/mechanics/) It gives officiating positions for 5, 6, and 7 man crews (presumably, the pros use a 7 man crew) and the responsibilities for each official for various game situations. ---
**Author:** ![RenegadeLibrarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RenegadeLibrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RenegadeLibrarian)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/4 "2001-11-19T17:25:58Z")
Here are your answers 🙂 Taken from [http://www.footballusa.com/rules/rules1.htm](http://www.footballusa.com/rules/rules1.htm) (note: Text clipped. It’s all at the linked page, though. -manhattan) [Edited by manhattan on 11-19-2001 at 05:04 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/5 "2001-11-19T19:07:46Z")
Hey, Renegade Librarian - I see that you’re a new arrival (Everyone, show da love for the newcomer!), but the board admin has just put out notices about limiting the pasting of copywrited material. The board is run by a newspaper, which of course has an interest in keeping the integrity of copywrite laws, and does not wish to be seen as hypocritical. I presume that what you posted is, so maybe just hit the highlights next time, eh? Just a helpful hint. But thanks for the info anyway. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/6 "2001-11-19T19:08:03Z")
The umpire is the guy who gets run over by other players a lot since he has to stand in the defensive backfield. Often times, runners use the umpire as an extra blocker. The NFL has been experimenting with putting the umpire in the offensive backfield (where the referee stands) in order to reduce the number of collisions. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Hobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/59ef9b/32.png) [@King\_Hobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Hobo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/7 "2001-11-19T19:13:52Z")
Thanks All. I think that about covers it ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/8 "2001-11-19T19:17:33Z")
I’m now worried that there are two librarians on this board that know about the dreary vagaries of football rules. I’m no longer special. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/9 "2001-11-19T19:28:06Z")
It doesn’t appear that **RenegadeLibrarian** violated any copyrights with that post, as the information posetd is not from the official rule book! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/10 "2001-11-19T19:28:57Z")
I’m going to admit that I’m picky enough to have this bother me: “pasting of copywrited material.” That should be “material that has a copy **r** ight”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/11 "2001-11-19T22:58:46Z")
**EJsGirl** , it doesn’t matter if it came from the rulebook or not. The point is that someone wrote that passage, and that someone, unless they’ve been dead a long time or gave away/sold the rights to someone else, has a copyright on it. Still a no-no. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/12 "2001-11-19T23:05:27Z")
**Renegade** , I’ve removed the copyrighted material from your post. Thank you for the link – it answers any side questions quite well. But there’s no need to reproduce it here. Folks can just follow the link and get it straight from the source. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/13 "2001-11-20T02:48:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\*I’m now worried that there are two librarians on this board that know about the dreary vagaries of football rules. > > I’m no longer special. ☹ \*\* No way, man … the next time I have a completely arcane question about sports rules, you’ll be the first guy I think of. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-bj-american-football-related/94226/14 "2001-11-20T03:28:02Z")
Thank you. I’ve got a world of information on drop kicks in football that I’ve never had a chance to break out.