There is nowhere to hide on the football field. Whether working a closely contested Super Bowl or the final minutes of a preseason game, officials are expected to exhibit the same high level of excellence on every play. They are carefully selected, extensively prepared and rigorously evaluated to...
Overall, the role of NFL referees is vital in maintaining the integrity of the game. These officials are responsible for enforcing the rules, making important decisions, managing the game clock, and ensuring player safety. Without their efforts, the game of football would be significantly less fai...
Both NCAA and NFL football grant three timeouts per half of play. These timeouts do not role over to the next half, so you are likely to see timeouts called more casually during the first half. Any active player on the field or the head coach can call a timeout. In NCAA football, a...
Deflating a football could change the way it would be gripped by a player or the way it travels through the air. The Patriots beat the Colts 45-7 to reach the Super Bowl. New England will play the defending champion Seattle Seahawks...
• Location of the football or a player in relation to the boundary line, the line of scrimmage, the line to gain or the goal line • Down by contact (when a player is not ruled down by contact on the field) The furthest they are willing to go is allowin...
The practice of decoding signals was universal in football -- a single stolen signal can change a game -- with advance scouts jotting down notes, then matching the signal to the play. The Patriots created a novel spying system that made the decoding more dependable. Walsh later told ...
Right now, ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reportingthat the league concluded that the Patriots were definitely stealing the Jets signals and recording them. But this could be part of a developing story. There's also a question about radio frequencies and Pro Football Talk has the strangest rumor: ...
One rule change likely to catch your eye is that as of opening day, the NFL is adopting the "defer" option that's long been standard in high school and college football. Whoever wins the coin toss can elect first choice of ball or goal, or defer first choice until the start of the ...
Deflating a football can change the way it's gripped by a player or the way it travels through the air. Under NFL rules, each team provides balls each game for use when its offense is on the field. Furthermore, Brady told WEEI radio in November 2011 that he likes ...