You see it all the time: “Pass interference, defense number 24, that penalty is declined, play results in a touchdown.”
Does the referee confer with the opposing head coach (the one whose team was ‘victimized’ by the infraction) to ask them “Do you want to accept or not?” And the coach has to say “no?”
The decision is often made by an on-field team captain for the team being given the option; most of the time, it’s an obvious choice (such as in your example: “yes, I’ll take the touchdown, rather than the pass interference penalty”), but if it’s not an obvious choice, the captain may look to the sidelines, for the head coach to weigh in.
My understanding is that, on any play in which the penalty may be declined (some cannot be declined), the officials have to consult with the captain or coach for that decision before enforcing (or not) the penalty.
If the implications of taking, versus declining, the penalty, are complex, the coach or captain may ask the officials to explain what the outcomes would be for both choices, before making a decision.
I see, thanks. The majority of the time, it seems the refs don’t even take anyone’s opinion into account (for instance, false starts are typically penalized so fast and the referee announces the penalty so fast without even talking to anyone in between.) Seems the ref default assumes “yes, the defense will accept the 5-yard penalty for an offense false start” (which is reasonable since there has probably not been a single instance in NFL history where a defense would refuse such a penalty, same for neutral-zone infraction.)
False start is an example of a penalty that can’t be declined (at least in the NFL). If the offense commits a false start, the play is blown dead at the moment that the penalty is called, and must be enforced.
Penalties which can be accepted (or declined) are usually ones that happen during a play, and the play is allowed to transpire despite the penalty; the team making the decision on the penalty typically has the choice of either taking the result of the play, or the penalty (which often negates the outcome of the play entirely).
In the case of the offsides penalty (which is to defenses what false starts are to offenses): usually, if a flag is thrown for offsides on the defense, the play is allowed to continue, and the offense has the choice of either taking the penalty (five yards, with no loss of down), or the result of the play.
There’s a specific strategy that quarterbacks use, with a “hard count,” in which they try to draw defensive players offsides – if they succeed on doing so, they essentially get a free play, and will often use it to throw a deep pass. If they complete the pass, then they take that result; if it’s an incompletion (or, even worse, an interception or sack), they just take the five yards from the offsides.
On the other hand, if a defensive player jumps offside, and continues running towards the quarterback before the ball is snapped, it’s still an offsides penalty, but the officials will blow the play dead – it’s called something like “progress unabated to the quarterback,” and it gets blown dead before the defender gets to the QB, to keep defensive teams from using offsides to get cheap shots in at opposing quarterbacks.
Some choices are so obvious that the referee just proceeds to make the call on the field. For example, it’s 3rd and 14 and the QB throws an incomplete pass but, during the play, the defense roughs the QB, which is 15 yards and an automatic first down. That’s an obvious accept situation. Other situations aren’t so clear. In that case, the head coach makes the decision and communicates that to the officials.
Yup, a false start is a ‘dead ball’ penalty, i.e. one that is committed outside of play. There’s usually no discretion for those. Personal fouls committed after a play are also dead ball penalties.
For offsides penalties, those are often free plays and those can especially create ambiguous situations the coach may need to judge. Let’s say a defender is offsides on a 1st and 10. The play results in an 9 yard gain. Now, the team has the option of declining and having a 2nd and 1 or accepting for a 1st and 5. You could make an argument either way for that, and it’s clearly one where the offensive team should get their preference.
In the NFL, there are 4 flavors of offsides type penalties:
Offsides - defensive player in the neutral zone as the ball is snapped
Encroachment - defensive player goes across the line and physically contacts an opposing player before the ball is snapped
Neutral zone infraction - defensive player moves into the neutral zone causing an offensive player to false start
Unabated to the QB - basically the same as offsides but gets called when there’s a clear path to the QB - mainly exists to protect QBs
Not many penalties are declined. It’s done when the play is successful and produces more yards gain than the penalty would if enforced. Refs don’t bother to consult otherwise, the team captain will let them know if there’s some recent to consider declining. It’s just an either or situation: Get 15 yards from a penalty or 12 yards from a play. And often the alternative is 0 or less yards from the play.
Agreed. But there was one this week where the punting team let the play clock expire so they would move 5 yards back for more chance to avoid the end zone. The receiving team declined the penalty. (I suppose they could have just figured out away to punt from further behind the line of scrimmage, but I think they don’t like to mix up their routine.
Sometimes it’s also for stat padding.
For example, let’s say a team will get a first down either way, but declining the penalty means a receiver gets 12 yards, or accepting for 15. Declining it means the player gets credit for the play (which could have implication for bonuses, lifetime stats, and such), which wouldn’t happen for an accepted penalty.
Likely so, but there may still be an official quickly confirming with the captain that they are, indeed, taking the obvious choice. That confirmation probably isn’t being shown on the TV broadcast, because it’s so fast, and the decision is clear.
AIUI downs are often just as important too. i…e sometimes it is better to decline a penalty and force your opponent into 4th-and-short rather than 3rd-and-long.
From the NFL Rule Book, Rule 14, Section 1, Article 1:
Unless expressly prohibited, the penalty for any foul may be declined by the offended team, and play proceeds as though no foul had been committed.
During a quick skim of the rule book, I couldn’t find an example of a penalty that cannot be declined.
On page 9 of this rule book, the exceptions (things that can’t be declined) appear to be:
I was thinking about that exception. The defense can benefit from declining penalties on 3rd down. I suppose some plays will have the offense losing more yards than the penalty also, so the defense may decline in that case.
I’ve seen delays of game not accepted by the opposing team - it’s usually when the home team takes the field and there’s some sort of on-field memorial for a player/coach who died. The opposing team declines out of respect.
“Targeting” is definitely one.
Yeah, one example is last year after Demaryius Thomas died. The Broncos lined up with only 10 men (open spot for him), which incurs a delay of game penalty.
Technically, it’s not up to the opposing team but the officials were definitely playing along - Denver let the other team and the officials know ahead of time, so it caught absolutely nobody by surprise.
It was the very first snap of the game, so it’s not like any time was lost (no running clock yet) or any actual game consequences for it.
Given what @Procrustus said, at least one of those ‘exceptions’ can still be declined.
Agreed.
Yes - there can be circumstances when the team on offense sees an advantage in losing some yardage, and thus be interested in committing false start / delay of game penalties.
The team on defense is not obliged to accept such penalties, thus giving them the negative yards they seek.
Yeah, that’s one of the exceptions.
For a false start/delay of game, the penalty itself still exists, but the other team can decline the yardage part of the penalty. This may also have other consequences, e.g. game clock at the end of either half.