BBW - Diagram

[NVFOA_Ump]

Feedback and comments on the attached diagram showing downfield BBW would be appreciated.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[TampaSteve]

Looks good.
(soapbox)
we hear so much about concussions, but nothing on knee injuries, yet knee injuries are perhaps more common then head injuries.
If anyone has any insight to the rulemakers psyche, are they looking at this at all?
Seems if the rules folks were REALLY concerned about player safety, they would either eliminate BBW or modify it to where it closely matches the HS rule (BBW is basically only ok if it's As first move).
(this concluses today's soapbox)

[Rulesman]

Looks good.
(soapbox)
we hear so much about concussions, but nothing on knee injuries, yet knee injuries are perhaps more common then head injuries.
If anyone has any insight to the rulemakers psyche, are they looking at this at all?
Seems if the rules folks were REALLY concerned about player safety, they would either eliminate BBW or modify it to where it closely matches the HS rule...

Elimination will never happen so long as certain coaches are on the rules committee. This came straight from the mouth of another rules committee member.

[TXMike]

It is good except what is a "downfield block"?  And your point re not blocking toward the orig position of the ball is not correct if the block happens somewhere, oh I don't know, let's say after 7 - 10 yards or so

[Cowman52]

Eliminating blocking below the waist in my thinking is not who is on the rules committee but a thought that in the NCAA and here in Texas, there is a huge disproportion in athlete size. You have div 2 schools playing the LSU 's and such for a payday not a win.  The cajuns line might average 290 while the d2school might average 220.  The chance of injury is increasing with every snap, and I can imagine who is on the short side. A possible remedy, and this aint gonna fly, an upper weight limit ( like pop Warner).  I can see  Friday night games with 120 pound differences between players, and our area is not too large, just get to the metro areas. I think some cooler heads are thinking, and rather than just blow up the rule book, try to adjust it.

[ljudge]

We were told if that "downfield block" was 15 yards downfield against a safety who had that reasonable opportunity to see the low block coming would be legal (if low) so long as it was between 10 and 2 EVEN IF it was toward the middle of the field (meaning away from the receiver's adjacent sideline under the old terminology).  Additional clarification was made citing it was more about getting that immediate crackback flagged (e.g., blocking low toward the ball against that unsuspecting linebacker who was moving parallel to the LOS pursuing a sweep play and having a WR taking him out even if between 10 and 2).

[TXMike]

In his presentation last weekend, Dr Redding gave an example of a block that happened 20 yards downfield and said that was not a foul.  However he did not give a specific yardline cutoff.  He did emphasize what you said, the intent is to get those "immediate" blocks back to the inside.  Well I don't think 10 yards downfield is an immediate block.  Within 5 yards seems pretty clearly immediate.  So the gray area for me is 5 - 10.  I am going to rule there based on how much ability I judge the blockee had to protect himself and/or see the low block coming

[Rulesman]

Eliminating blocking below the waist in my thinking is not who is on the rules committee but a thought that in the NCAA and here in Texas, there is a huge disproportion in athlete size.

...which is EXACTLY why those on the committee who favor no change, well...favor no change. In their mind, it is the way to keep the playing field level. They can't compete based purely on size.

[Magician]

Looks good.
(soapbox)
we hear so much about concussions, but nothing on knee injuries, yet knee injuries are perhaps more common then head injuries.
If anyone has any insight to the rulemakers psyche, are they looking at this at all?
Seems if the rules folks were REALLY concerned about player safety, they would either eliminate BBW or modify it to where it closely matches the HS rule (BBW is basically only ok if it's As first move).
(this concluses today's soapbox)

The huge difference is concussions (especially multiple) results in much more severe long-term effects than a busted knee or broken arm.

[NVFOA_Ump]

In his presentation last weekend, Dr Redding gave an example of a block that happened 20 yards downfield and said that was not a foul.  However he did not give a specific yardline cutoff.  He did emphasize what you said, the intent is to get those "immediate" blocks back to the inside.  Well I don't think 10 yards downfield is an immediate block.  Within 5 yards seems pretty clearly immediate.  So the gray area for me is 5 - 10.  I am going to rule there based on how much ability I judge the blockee had to protect himself and/or see the low block coming

Is there any additional "clarification memo" that explicitly identifies a cutoff point (i.e. n yards beyond the LOS), where a BBW from the outside back in toward the original position of the ball at the snap would not be a foul?  Are we saying that it's up to us on the field to make the judgment on foul or no foul when the block is "downfield" and not "immediate"?

[Rulesman]

Is there any additional "clarification memo" that explicitly identifies a cutoff point (i.e. n yards beyond the LOS), where a BBW from the outside back in toward the original position of the ball at the snap would not be a foul?  Are we saying that it's up to us on the field to make the judgment on foul or no foul when the block is "downfield" and not "immediate"?

I browsed through the CAA video on the CFO site last night and if I understood Rogers correctly he said they really hesitate to define a specific yardage point as it opens cans of worms not within the spirit and intent of the rule. As always, he does a great job breaking it down and there were some awfully good questions posed by the group. It is definitely worth the hour spent to watch it.

[TXMike]

Another thing he mentioned during the discussion on this change...If it turns out officials are unable to officiate this correctly using the limited guidance then he would consider adding something like we had a few years back with the 10 yard barrier

[fencewire]

this is on a slide during Rogers presentation.

"once the ball has left the low-blocking zone, all team A players are under the same rules" @ 16:30 in the talk.

[Aussie-Zebra]

Video Presentation of 2013-14 Rule Changes with Rogers Redding
This video was produced by the Colonial Athletic Association.