Officiating professional sports has always been a controversial subject because a fair outcome of the game depends on them doing a good job and enforcing the rules. After all, the point of the officials being there is to make sure that the players themselves decide the outcomes.
Why then, are there always questions about rule interpretations, strike zones, fouls, penalties, and the like? It's simply because it is not that easy to officiate the sports we love. The rules are intricate, and many times the same rule is interpreted differently from game to game, and official to official.
Which sport is the most difficult to officiate? It has to be professional football. To understand why you have to understand all the moving parts that go into keeping control of a game. First of all, you need a team of seven individuals to work the game, and they each have different functions:
Referee
He gives the signal for all fouls and makes all the penalty calls. He is responsible for all the rule interpretations that occur in the game, and keeps track of what happens to the quarterback on pass plays, as well as the legality of the snap. He is normally about 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage and checks for illegal motion, and on plays involving kickers, he determines whether illegal contact has been made. Think that is a lot? There is more.
Umpire
He watches the offensive and defensive lines for false starts, illegal contact, and also ensures that lineman don’t move down the field early on pass plays and that receivers are not illegally held up on screen plays. The Umpire also assists on legal and illegal pass receptions.
Head Linesman
He works with the Referee to make sure down is correct, and that the chain crew effectively does their duties. The Head Linesman also watches for illegal contact with receivers on his side of the field after the five yard limit, and has full responsibility for ruling on out of bounds plays on his side. He has to rule on forward progress, pass interference, and any action involving any receiver on his side, in addition to watching for possible scrimmage line infractions. Not exactly a walk in the park with the amount of pass happy teams in the NFL.
Line Judge
He straddles the line of scrimmage opposite the Lineman, and keeps the time on the field as a back-up. Along with the Linesman he is responsible for offsides, encroachment, and other infractions on the scrimmage line prior to the snap. He also has to make sure the passer is not beyond the line of scrimmage on pass plays, and has to rule whether a pass is a lateral or forward pass. On punts, the Line Judge has to make sure the end men go down-field until the kick has been made.
Field Judge
4 comments Last one added 4 months ago — Leave a Comment
Andrew Kneeland about 1 year ago
Nicely organized article, Andrew. I enjoyed it, and it is a difficult sport to officiate, isn't it?
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Andrew Tonge about 1 year ago
Very difficult. I think they stick with the part time guys because they figure they would be beyond reproach. The last thing the NFL needs is a scandal like the NBA had with Tim Donaghy. I agree with Mike that they do need full time refs.
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Dena G. 4 months ago
I don't know a lot about football, but my best friend is super fan of the steelers and sometimes I watch the games with him. I am a dancer, and I told him that ballet is more difficult than football. I would like to know what you have to say about it, is it more difficult football or ballet?
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Andrew Tonge 4 months ago
Being that ballet is not a contact sport they may be a little hard to compare. I know you have to be very nimble, and flexable to do ballet, and I guess strenght plays a factor because your toes (and you can correct me if I am wrong) have to support all of your body weight, and your movements have to be precise.
With football, strength and flexability are definetely a factor and help determine whether you can stay in the league. I would have to say football is a little more difficult because you cannot fully prepare for what will happen in the game like you can with Ballet. The contact element makes it more difficult as well. With ballet (again correct me if I am wrong) as long as you have the time you can fully prepare for your routines and you don't have to worry about someone trying to knock you unconsious during the game. Both require a lot of coordination. Add speed as another reason football is more difficult. Depending on your position, you have to have a good combination of size, agility, strength, and speed.
Actually, ballet is more difficult than I thought, but I say football has the edge. Thanks for your comment.
Andrew
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