The Referee and Umpire

Today, you get your first lesson on the different positions and responsibilities of the officials that police a football game.  First, though, note that I call them “officials,” not “referees.”  In football, the referee is actually the boss of the officiating crew.  Therefore, it would be incorrect (and bad form) to use that term to refer to any official that doesn’t fill that role.

Here’s the low-down on the referee and the umpire, two of the several officials that you will see on the field during a football game:

The Referee

As mentioned above, the referee is the boss of the crew.  While all of the other officials on the field will be wearing black hats, the referee can easily be identified by his white hat (thus, you may also hear the referee being called the “white hat”). 

1.   Position*:  The referee is positioned behind and to the side of the quarterback (roughly 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage).  He will typically stand on the side of the quarterback’s dominant hand; if the quarterback throws right-handed, the referee will stand to the right of the quarterback.

2.   Responsibilities:  As the head official, the referee has several jobs:

a.   Before the game starts, the referee conducts the coin toss to determine who receives the ball first.

b.   Throughout the game, the referee has responsibility for the administration of the game as a whole.  For example, he makes sure that the game and play clocks are functioning properly.  He will also be the official who will settle disputes between the other officials concerning the outcome of a play or a penalty, and will address coaches’ concerns (or complaints) as needed.  

c.    During play, the referee’s primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of the quarterback.  Therefore, he will focus on the quarterback during the play, watching for illegal hits against the quarterback.  For example, a late hit occurs when a defensive player tackles the quarterback after the quarterback has gotten rid of the football, and the defensive player had the opportunity to stop his own momentum before making the tackle (these calls are often controversial because it seems so difficult for a defender barreling toward the quarterback to “pull up” in time).  He may also call penalties for illegal holding and other blocking penalties.  If the runner progresses down the field, the referee will follow him, looking for the runner to step out of bounds, and for illegal blocks behind the runner, among other things.

d.   Before the play begins, the referee will also be watching for procedure penalties, such as the false start penalty, which I described in my previous post, and illegal motion.

e.   When the play is over, the referee may double-check the location of the ball and the new line of scrimmage with the other officials on the sidelines.  If a penalty is called, he meets with the official who saw the penalty and makes a final decision on whether to uphold the penalty.  If the penalty is upheld, he turns to the sideline where the press box is located and makes the hand signal for that penalty.  He will then verbally announce the penalty, the jersey number of the player that committed the penalty, and the resulting consequence, such as loss of yardage.

f.    If a call on the field is challenged or the officials in the press box call for an instant replay (click here for the post on challenges and instant replay), the referee is the one that reviews the video of the play and makes a final determination on the call.

The Umpire**

1.   Position:  The umpire used to be positioned behind the defensive linemen (so, about 5-7 yards behind the line of scrimmage).  Citing safety concerns, the NFL changed the position of the umpire in 2010.  Now, the umpire stands in the offense, adjacent to the running back, so about 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage.  However, the umpire will be in his old position in the middle of the defense in these situations: (1) the final two minutes of the first half; (2) the final five minutes of the game; and (3) when the offense is inside its opponent's 5-yard line.  There has also been talk of having umpires wear helmets, but this hasn't materialized yet.  Umpires do get run over quite often, but they can hand out the punishment, too:

2.   Responsibilities:

a.   The umpire watches the offensive linemen for holding or illegal blocks, and illegal contact by the defensive linemen attempting to ward off blocks.  During pass plays, he will advance toward the line of scrimmage to watch for offensive linemen moving illegally down-field.

b.   On short passes, he helps rule on whether the pass is incomplete or trapped by the receiver (i.e., the ball is caught at ground level by the receiver after the ball hits the ground).

c.   The umpire is also the fashion police on the field.  He makes sure that the players’ uniforms and equipment are in compliance with the rules.

Even though these are only two of the officials on the crew, it’s important that you understand their roles in the game first.  They are the officials that call probably the most-committed penalties (many people argue that you could probably call holding on every play).  They are also the most visible given their positions on the field, and therefore the most likely to be yelled at by the crowd, the coaches, and your friends at home when you’re watching the game on TV.

*Only the positions during regular plays are described.  Each official also has a specific position for special kinds of plays such as punts, kickoffs and extra point attempts. 

**As I mentioned in my inaugural post, in 2009 I spent the football season as an official for youth football.  Umpire is the position I worked most and is near and dear to my heart.

The Quarterback, Offensive Linemen and Holding

Today, I’d like to introduce some of the players on the field; specifically, the quarterback and offensive linemen.  It is with these guys that every play starts, so it’s important to understand what they do.

As I described in my post about the basics, the object of the game is to advance the ball toward the opponent’s end zone in an effort to score touchdowns and field goals.  The player in charge of getting the ball down the field on a play-by-play basis is the quarterback (QB).  You can think of the quarterback as the general, captain, foreman, manager, all-around boss of the offense.  On each play, he will throw the ball to a receiver, hand it to a runner, or keep the ball himself and run with it.  Before each play, the quarterback receives a signal from the head coach (via headphones in his helmet) on which play to run.  However, each play includes options that the quarterback can choose based on how the opponent is positioned or reacts to the actions of the offense.  For example, on a passing play, each receiver on the field will run a different route.  The quarterback can decide who to throw the ball to based on which receiver has the best chance of catching the ball, or scoring.  Therefore, a quarterback must not only be athletic and accurate with his throwing, but he also needs to be intelligent and able to process what he sees within a few seconds.

Since the quarterback is so important, it seems like a good strategy for the defense would be to chase him around, pressure him, or even tackle him so he can’t throw or might even drop the ball.  Right?  Right!  That’s why the quarterback is protected on each and every play by the offensive line.  The offensive line consists of: the center; right and left guards; and right and left tackles.  These athletes are typically very large in stature (tall AND weighty) and very strong.

The center is where you’d expect him to be:  in the middle of the five players.  The quarterback stands behind the center at the beginning of every play, and the center’s primary job is to deliver the ball to the quarterback to start the play.  This delivery is called the snap.  The center will standing in a squat with one hand on the football, which is resting on the ground just in front of him.  At a predetermined signal given by the quarterback, the center brings the ball behind him, through his legs, and gives it to the quarterback.  The quarterback can either be right behind the center with his hands palms-open between the center’s legs (no giggling, please), or he will be standing a few yards behind the center (called the shotgun formation), where he will catch the ball from the air. 

The rest of the offensive line will line up shoulder-to-shoulder with the center along an imaginary line behind the football (called the line of scrimmage).  Next to the center are the right and left guards, with the right and left tackles at the ends of the line.  All five will stay in a squatting position, typically in a “three-point stance” (i.e., with two feet and one hand on the ground) until the snap.  If they move at all before the snap, a penalty called a false start will be called, and the offense will be moved back five yards.*

At the snap, the offensive line will lunge forward and make contact with the players on the other team whose job it is to “rush” the quarterback by breaking through the offensive line and attempt to tackle the quarterback (or, failing that, give chase).  The offensive line wants to prevent this and will attempt to push those players back away from the quarterback (called blocking).  You’re probably wondering why they don’t just grab hold of the players on defense and throw them to the ground.  If they do, they commit a penalty called, appropriately, holding.  In football, it is illegal for a player on offense (other than the player with the ball) to grab and hold an opponent in an attempt to impede his progress.  To minimize the risk of committing this penalty, an offensive lineman should keep his hands inside the frame of his opponent (in other words, not grabbing him by the shoulders, wrapping his arms around his waist, etc.).  A holding penalty costs the offense ten yards, which are marked off from the point where the holding occurred (the line of scrimmage when committed by an offensive lineman).

So, this is what happens within the first few seconds of each play, and the players critical to these precious moments.  There are several other key actors, and potential penalties, related to the offense, but all in good time…

*Remember the discussion about downs?  If it’s first and ten and the offense commits a false start penalty, they will be moved back five yards and it will then be first and fifteen.