False Start?

[Bulldog75]

I had a game back in the season where the coaches on my sideline were wanting a false start called.  One opposing team WR was making a slight rocking motion every snap.  Right before the snap he would shift his weight back and his hips would move noticeably.  His head, hands, and feet did not move any.  The coaches saw it because it was right in front of them.  I told them I wasn't going to call it because the movement did not met the definition of a false start.  The movement was not giving the receiver any unfair advantage and wasn't tricking or hurting the defender.  The movement did not simulate the start of a play and was not quick or abrupt.

Thoughts?

[dammitbobby]

The first time I saw it, I'd talk to the receiver and warn him, even before the coach started complaining, so that it doesn't put me in a tough spot like this later on. If the coach was smart, he'd tell his OLB/CB/S whoever it is to react to the movement; that makes it an easy call.

[ElvisLives]

I had a game back in the season where the coaches on my sideline were wanting a false start called.  One opposing team WR was making a slight rocking motion every snap.  Right before the snap he would shift his weight back and his hips would move noticeably.  His head, hands, and feet did not move any.  The coaches saw it because it was right in front of them.  I told them I wasn't going to call it because the movement did not met the definition of a false start.  The movement was not giving the receiver any unfair advantage and wasn't tricking or hurting the defender.  The movement did not simulate the start of a play and was not quick or abrupt.

Thoughts?

Don’t let him get away with that. By rule, he is supposed to be completely still, without movement of their feet, body, head or arms. Save yourself and future crews the headache. Easy enough to ‘talk to’ him to tell him he has to be completely still.

[Bulldog75]

Does the rule say completely still?  Or is that an understood interpretation?  Honest question, this was my second season.

[ElvisLives]

Does the rule say completely still?  Or is that an understood interpretation?  Honest question, this was my second season.

Forgive me, but you tell me what the rule says.

[FWREF]

7-1-2B does not mandate complete stillness, the action you describe should not be called a false start. However great care has to used here, any movement forward prior to the snap is a false start and should be called. As was mentioned here previously i would counsel the kid after the first time i saw it to explain to him that it is close to a foul and that he needs to watch what he does. I would also have this communicated to his coach. 

[ElvisLives]

He didn't qualify that the wide receiver was a lineman or a back. If he is a back, yeah, he could be moving at the snap - if he is the only player moving. If he is a lineman, he can't be moving at the snap, period. That's illegal motion, regardless of what any back(s) may be doing.
Linemen: make them be 100% still at the snap, or your buying trouble.

[Cowtown Ref]

In fairness, we dont make lineman be 100% still.  That is just not true.

We allow them to point at the defender they are going to block.  We allow them to go to a knee/turn to sideline (while keeping their hand on the ground) to look at the sideline for a play call.

So we never require them to be 100% still.  If we did, games would take 4 hours for all the FST we would be throwing.

Can the movement be interpreted as a "football move".  That is the question since we are never 100% black and white.

Sounds to be like the original poster did not feel like the movement being made was big enough to rise to the level of a "football move".

[MAFBRef]

Linemen need to be 100% still at the snap. Everything you describe is pre-snap.

[dammitbobby]

If a lineman is pointing to his blocking assignment, and then while he is lowering his arm back down - assuming it is not fast or jerky - the ball is snapped, I'm not calling that as a FST, for the same reason if they've been in a three-point stance for 20 seconds waiting on the snap and he gently shifts his weight or adjusts. I'm not calling that a FST either. I don't think the rule is intended to be ironclad for minute things that don't give any advantage whatsoever.

I suspect we are all using different internalized definitions here about what movement is ok and what is not. I think we all know what the rule says, and we all know what our internal tolerance is, and I suspect they're probably pretty closely aligned, we're just stating them differently which is giving the appearance of different standards as to what is OK and what isn't.

[Timer]

What about the QB making a quick, jerky motion downward with his arms while waiting for the snap.  To me, that was a false start, but it was never called.  I never understood why. 

[ElvisLives]

What about the QB making a quick, jerky motion downward with his arms while waiting for the snap.  To me, that was a false start…

It is a FST, and I called it several times in my FBS days. Once I called it, it didn’t happen again, and I got no flak from the team. They knew what they were doing. You just gotta have the courage.

[Bulldog75]

The rule:

b. False Start. Each of the following is a false start by Team A if it occurs
prior to the snap after the ball is ready for play and all players are in
scrimmage formation:

1. Any movement by one or more players that simulates the start of a
play. 
I don't think this one applies.  He wasn't simulating the start of the play.

2. The snapper moving to another position. 
Clearly does not apply

3. A restricted lineman (Rule 2-27-4) moving their hand(s) or making
any quick movement. [Exceptions: 1. It is not a false start if a Team A
lineman immediately reacts when threatened by a Team B player in the
neutral zone (Rule 7-1-5-a-2) (A.R. 7-1-3-V) 2. Rule 7-1-3-a-3].
Clearly does not apply

4. An offensive player making any quick, jerky movement before the
snap, including but not limited to:
(a) A lineman moving their foot, shoulder, arm, body or head in a
quick, jerky motion in any direction.
He was usually lined up as a lineman, but again none of these body parts were moving and motion was not quick or jerky.

(b) The snapper shifting or moving the ball, moving their thumb or
fingers, flexing their elbows, jerking their head, or dipping their
shoulders or buttocks.
Clearly does not apply

(c) The quarterback making any quick, jerky movement that simulates
the beginning of a play.
Clearly does not apply

(d) A back simulating receiving the ball by making any quick, jerky
movement that simulates the beginning of a play.
He was not simulating receiving the ball

5. The offensive team never coming to a one-second stop prior to the
snap after the ball is ready for play (A.R. 7-1-2-IV). This is an illegal
shift that converts to a false start.
He came to a complete stop when he got set in formation

[ElvisLives]

You are hung up on FST. It isn't necessarily a FST. But, it would be illegal motion, if a lineman is moving at the snap, or a back is moving forward at the snap, or more than one back is moving at the snap.

I read your post as this was the end (wide receiver), moving, as in adjusting his weight significantly enough to be able to get a quicker 'jump out of his starting block' just before, and as, the ball was snapped. If that isn't the case, then we're not talking about the same thing. If you are talking about an end (or an interior lineman) shifting his weight to re-balance himself and get re-set, adjusting a foot significantly and getting re-set, pointing or otherwise signaling with an arm(s), rotating or lifting his head BEFORE the snap, and he is motionless at the snap, then you have nothing. A 'one-off' weight shift that isn't complete at the snap, or a 'point' in which the pointer doesn't get his arm tucked back on his thigh, an end (WR) that is turning his head - those kinds of things, are nothing, either (although I would have a 'talk to' with them to get them to get all of that done and be still at the snap).