Be the Referee: Returning Kickoffs
September 22, 2016
Every football game starts with a kickoff, and our "You Make The Call" series will start with the same play for 2016.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – You Make the Call: Returning Kickoffs - Listen
Every football game starts with a kickoff, and our 'You Make The Call' series will start with the same play for 2016.
The kicker kicks the ball high and deep off the tee, and the return man – three yards deep in his own end zone – catches the kick in the air, and now starts to head upfield to try and gain yards. Under high school rules, is the legal?
Believe it or not, the answer is no. Under high school rules, whether it’s a kickoff or a punt, once the ball breaks the plane of the goal line, the ball is dead and it becomes a touchback, with the offense taking over, first and 10, on the 20-yard line.
College and professional players can return kicks from the end zone; high school players cannot.
Past editions
Sept. 15: Concussions - Listen
Sept 8: Equipment Covering the Knees - Listen
Sept. 1: Play Clock Experiment - Listen
Aug. 25: Clipping in the Free Blocking Zone - Listen
Be the Referee: Clipping Clipped
August 25, 2016
MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl opens a new year of “Be the Referee” by explaining the latest rules change affecting blocking in football.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Clipping in the Free Blocking Zone - Listen
Most of the recent rules changes in high school football have all dealt with increasing player safety. The most significant change for the 2016 season focuses on safety, especially for offensive and defensive linemen.
For many years, the free blocking zone (the area between the two offensive tackles) was an area where two types of blocks – blocks below the waste and clipping, that are illegal on other parts of the field – were legal if done by linemen initially at the start of a play. For this season, clipping is now an illegal block, even in the free blocking zone, while blocks below the waste continue to be legal from in front.