Fairfax County Flag Football League

MESSAGEBOARD

subject: "question for comish"

lake ffx player

Mar 28, 2010
12:25 PM

;	last week i was told in order to spike the football to stop the clock the qb has to be under center, is this true?

Nope

Mar 28, 2010
2:55 PM


;	Not at all tru.

wow

Mar 28, 2010
3:50 PM


;	did one of the ref`s actually spew that nonsense?

yes

Mar 28, 2010
5:09 PM


;	yes its true, otherwise its technically a intentional grounding.... gay i agree

No

Mar 28, 2010
6:56 PM


;	it`s not. Show me that in the rule book.

...

Mar 28, 2010
7:45 PM


;	show me where it isn`t

all

Mar 28, 2010
8:13 PM


;	you gotta do is hit a lineman in the foot with ball. solves the problem

Or

Mar 28, 2010
8:53 PM


;	you could just miss the snap.

Allen
Signal
coach

Mar 29, 2010
12:36 PM


;	It is illegal, see the section in the rule book listed below on page 34. Section 4. Forward Pass Illegal Forward Pass ARTICLE 2 A forward pass is illegal: c. If intentionally thrown to the ground or out-of-bounds. Penalty: 5 yards from spot of foul; also loss of down if by Team A before change of team possession during a down. http://www.usffa.org/rulebook.htm You can probably get around this as stated above by throwing it toward a lineman.

The point is

Mar 29, 2010
12:50 PM


;	it has nothing to do with taking the snap from under center.

TO: The point is

Mar 29, 2010
1:18 PM


;	correct however the question was in order to spike the ball to stop the clock is under center the only place this can be done. the answer is yes or the rule stated above will come in to play. if u take the snap in a shotgun formation the ref can consider it an illegal forward pass. someone above asked for the rule.

just

Mar 29, 2010
1:53 PM


;	have a rb next to you and throw it at him and make sure he does not catch. problem solved.

i am

Mar 29, 2010
2:14 PM


;	telling you the solution just take the snap and hit a lineman in the foot cant call intentional grounding on that done it a few time never been called

TOM
league commissioner

Mar 29, 2010
4:51 PM


;	"spiking" the ball in flag football is simply throwing it to the ground just behind your lineman or center (close enough to make it a viable pass attempt). If you are in the shotgun, the ball has to travel a little farther, but either way the officials usually know when a team is going to spike the ball, and will not penalize imperfect form. I`ve seen QBs in the shotgun throw it pretty much straight down, but its the officials call - and a judgement call at that.

thanks tom

Mar 29, 2010
7:49 PM


;	for the clarification. seen qbs spike it by just throwing it straight down and it`s never been called an illegal pass.

Chad

Apr 08, 2010
4:21 PM


;	I am the head of officials in Harrisonburg and we had the same question come up so I emailed Bob Jacobs and got a great response. Below you will find the email I sent to Bob and his email response. To summarize: THERE IS NO SPIKING THE FOOTBALL TO STOP THE CLOCK UNDER VFFA RULES! IT WILL BE FLAGGED AT THE STATE TOURNAMENT AND IT IS A LOSS OF DOWN PENALTY! Bob We had a situation in Harrisonburg on Sunday and I would like to get your opinion on it. In the past we have always enforced the spiking rule just like we do in High School, as long as the QB takes a direct snap from center he can spike the ball to stop the clock in the last 2 minutes. On Sunday we had a QB take a shotgun snap then immediately throw the ball with two hands and hit one of his offensive lineman in the back of the foot. He then proceeded to tell me that he did the same thing at States and the official said it was fine since he hit the linesman’s foot before hitting the ground. This is the only thing I can find in the Rule Book or the Virginia amendments: Illegal Forward Pass Rule 7, Section 4., Article 2. c,: "A forward pass is ILLEGAL: If intentionally thrown to the ground or out-of-bounds." My feeling is that if it is an illegal forward pass for intentionally throwing the ball to the ground, that even though it hits the guy in the foot his intention was obvious and I still have a flag for intentional grounding. Thanks as always for your input! RESPONSE: Chad` You are correct. There is NO SPIKING THE BALL to stop the clock as the rules you quote clearly state. Never has been! The Official at the States was, of course, incorrect (or the player was making something up that did not occur)! . That is one of the reasons we want officials to come to the Friday night pre-tournament meeting – to go over the pertinent rules and to have officials ask questions. We know that leagues play with rule variations and it causes a lot of problems. Now, if you have to modify the game timing, or number of time outs, to fit a number of games in a time interval or adjust the field size, or goal post kicking games due to conditions out of the leagues control – that’s OK. But, when you begin to adapt HS, College, Pro rules to flag (and no one else is doing so) problems result. We know those organizations ALWAYS TINKER. (The NFL is at it again this year with OT procedures). Leagues AND officials are to blame for these “rule variations”. From 1980 to 1998 I was commissioner of a flag officials association that worked 5 different fall leagues. We knew we couldn’t let the leagues control the rules. And still do an effective officiating job, have classes on rules and administer exams! So we developed a contract that, in part, stated that we would only work leagues that used the USFFA Rule Book with VFFA Amendments – period. Guess what? There was a standardization and when our officials (and teams) went to States there were no problems except when officials from other localities called the game by their rules or interpretations, thereof. Hope this helps and keep up the good work for us in the Valley. BOB Robert C. Jacobs President, VFFA

Answer Man

Apr 08, 2010
5:08 PM


;	Just drill it directly into the back of your lineman. It will be a clear incomplete pass thereby stopping the clock as intended, and your big burly lineman will love you for it and will block even harder for you on the next snap...or he will proceed to kick your pansy QB-arse. Try it. Your welcome.

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