Has anyone else noticed how many times receivers in motion (all teams) are offside but not called for a penalty? Sometimes these guys are a good yard past the line of scrimmage before the snap but the linesman fail to notice it for some reason. I think the receivers sometimes would be better off not going in pre-snap motion because at times they are caught on the offside and lots of times their timing is off and they end up "stutter-stepping" to the line anyways which takes away any advantage.
It might have to do with what angle you are viewing the play from.
When the line of scrimmage was right in front of me it appeared to me at least that on those plays the players were not offside.
But yes, It does appear at other times that receivers are crossing the line before the snap.
I must assume that the officials are doing their job and have a better view straight down the line.
I've noticed that too; appear to be offside in motion. Anyway I tried to look more closely on their motion and what I discovered is the receivers feet are on the line of scrimage but their upper body is leaning over the line. That's what it looks like to me on the T.V. view of things. Perhaps the Reffs are watching their foot not going over? I dunno. :?
It's an optical illusion.
On my PVR I've slowed down several plays where the receiver looked offside and it turned out he wasn't.
It's probably more pronounced with a shotgun snap because your brain might not register the start of the play until the ball gets to the QB, and by that time the receiver can be a good 2 or 3 yards downfield.
Yeah, I'm in the 'illusion' camp, too. I've found that it's almost impossible to tell unless the camera is exactly on the line of scrimmage. That said, I wouldn't want to be an official who has to make those calls.
Yeah, you need to be in a position to see exactly when the centre starts to snap the ball. Most of the time in the stadium or on TV that's hard to pick up while at the same time watching the receivers.
It's the "Ray Elgaard" rule. Receiver for Saskatchewan, pushed the limit on every play. Many said he was off-sides every play. Officials just ended up letting some of it go bit by bit and players took advantage of it. Not always an illusion.
Almost every play is offside It seems that if the receivers are close they get the benefit of the doubt. Been driving me crazy for years
I don't know. Isn't there an official right on the line on each side of the field? I doubt that they would all let the infractions go uncalled.
If it is in fact a fact, they should just do an NHL style blitz during the pre-season games to keep everyone honest. Personally, as long as it isn't blatant, I'm alright with a tiny bit of grace -- just to keep there from being a flag party. But, if things seem to be getting out of control, it's pretty easy to reel it in.
you make sense Sloe. IMO it is out of control. It really wouldn't take a lot for officials to send a memo to the teams and have a zero tolerance policy for a few games to reign things in Lets face it, the problem when officials give players a little slack and use their judgement on whether an inch or two matters its not long before the inch or two is normal and now the officials are looking at whether a foot is OK. Players will keep pushing the limits until officials start calling penalties no matter what the infraction is
I was serious about Ray Elgaard and his effect on the interpretation. Following is the rule as now applied to the offense
Team A players must be completely behind the line of scrimmage, except that the
head, arms and hands of the centre may be in advance of the line of scrimmage.
If a Team A player clearly crosses the line of scrimmage by more than one yard,
prior to the snap of the ball, the officials shall stop the play immediately and
apply a penalty
So I guess this can leave a gray area in the officials mind, stop play, let it go, let it go and throw a flag. All because of Ray, oh yeah stick-um rule too was partially due to him
Good feedback on this topic. I'm kind of like AKT...it drives me nuts. I can just imagine our American friends watching the games and exclaiming "what the heck is going on!!"