Last week Joe Buck made an observation about how the officials each had a particular area of the field to watch during kickoffs.   Joe, as usual, was partly right.   The officials have a particular area of the field to cover on EVERY play. This is called Officials Mechanics.

An NFL officiating crew is made up of 7 on field officials. They are the Referee or white hat, the Head Linesman, the Line Judge, the Umpire, the Back Judge, the Field Judge and the Side Judge.  Each has a specific pre-snap and post-snap position and area of concern, and very rarely make any call out of their zone.  As a matter of fact, the officials don’t even blow their whistle unless the play ends in their zone.

Here are their responsibilities:

The Referee‘s Pre-Snap duties include starting the play clock, counting the offensive players on the field, watching for illegal motion from the backs and receivers.
Post-Snap he is responsible for holding calls on the left tackle (if the QB is right handed, right tackle if the QB is left handed) and then the protection of the Quarterback, and intentional grounding.  That is it.   He obviously is the crew chief and announces all information to the crowd.

The Head Linesman is responsible for the chain crew. He is responsible pre-snap for watching for offsides, false starts, illegal formation, and illegal motion penalties.   Post-snap he remains on the line of scrimmage, watching for illegal forward passes, and holding or illegal blocks IF the runner comes into his area, which is basically outside the numbers.  He is also responsible for helping spot the ball after the play is ruled dead.

The Line Judge lines up opposite the Head linesman and is responsible for offsides, false starts, illegal formation and illegal motion pre-snap.  He also has the best view of the first down marker on the Head Linesman’s side of the field and will call out the down and distance to the other officials and teams on the field.  What most people don’t realize is that most fields are built with a crown in the middle.  It is very difficult to see across the entire field.  Many times you can’t see below the waist of the official opposite you.  The line judge releases down the field with receivers on his side to rule on complete passes and pass interference on passing plays, or stays even with the runner on running plays to help with spotting the ball when it is deemed dead.

The Umpire is in the center of the field.   He is responsible pre-snap for counting the defense, and standing over the ball until it is whistled ready for play.  He is responsible for the four remaining linemen not covered by the referee.  He also helps ruling on complete passes in the flat and illegal linemen downfield.

The Back Judge is a position that John Madden made famous.  He is in charge of all timing related to the game, and watches the play clock for the referee.  His only read at the snap is the tight end, looking for holding on either side.  He then is responsible for the middle of the field on passing downs and will always be the deepest official.   He watches mainly the inside receivers.

The other two officials are a luxury you need in the higher ranks of officiating. They are the Field and Side Judges. They help out the linesman and the head linesman on plays down the field.  The players are much faster than most officials so it helps to have a friend downfield ahead of the play.  What you should notice most is that the line judge will usually watch for possession on a pass and the side or field judge on whether the receiver remained in bounds.  A good crew will always look for confirmation from the responsible officials on close plays.  These small conferences, and sometimes just the nod of a head are important to the crew being sure it gets the call right.

The things most watchers and most announcers fail to realize is that we officials live by certain rules.  One is the whistle doesn’t have to be blown on every play, the mantra is the play kills the play, not the whistle.  There are many plays that a whistle is never blown, the officials hand in the air is the end of the play.  The second and most annoying for officials is that a flag does not end the play.  Except for dead ball fouls like false starts, the play continues, and there is no rush or correct time to throw the flag.   As a matter of course we like to take a second to process exactly what we saw, and to then throw the flag as we CONTINUE to OFFICIATE.   There is a possibility of multiple fouls, turnovers, etc. and we must continue doing our job until the play is dead.  Besides the back judge sometimes has to throw the flag some 25 yards to the spot of the foul, that takes a some time to get the flag out, set your feet and throw it accurately! Many announcers ask “what took so long to throw the flag.”, or the ever popular…”Here comes a late flag.”  It is all by design to ensure correctness and to continue doing our job on each and every play.

It is not a easy job, but it is fun, and we all enjoy helping out at all levels of officiating.

Feel free to ask any questions!

Joe Tufaro / ProFootballinsight Resident Referee

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