“Fair Catch” explained

[Wireless1]

If you ever see any of those officials as an auctioneer leave, otherwise you’ll own a bunch of stuff you never intended to bid on

 

[AdoptedVOL]

You aren't.

The ones thinking the officiating had no impact ine the outcome are.

Well, I don't think officiating had an outcome. Bama took over the lines on both sides of the ball the entire 2nd half. That's why we lost.

I'm not suggesting there aren't bad calls in football, it's just not why we lost.

Everyone has an opinion and why we come here to discuss.

 

[KTrain]

There is no “penalty” in that situation. If Dee would have caught and advanced it, then there would have been a delay of game penalty. Dee signaling and Seldon catching makes it dead at the spot of catching.

I was watching another game a couple weeks ago on a punt return receiver put hand up for a fair catch but took off and officials started blowing their whistles and play stopped. They took the ball where he caught it and where not accessed a delay of game penalty or any penalty. Just lined up where he caught it and announcer said no harm no foul with a little laugh.

 

[volinSmyrna]

Then it’s not an invalid fair catch but rather a fair catch.

Again. Here is the rule/application.

 

[yoyoyoyo]

Let’s assume Dee actually signaled for a fair catch meaning the ball is dead when fielded. Since it is inside the 25 yard line, shouldn’t have Tennessee received that ball on the 25 years line?

 

[Vol8188]

Again. Here is the rule/application.

Thank you. Next question is which player are they talking about. CJH thought it was a front line player. I can’t imagine anyone considering what Dee was doing to be an attempted fair catch signal

 

[Gatoringa]

I could almost see the call if Dee made that motion. But he didn't. The other returner was probably signaling that the ball wasn't coming to him. Whatever it was, it obviously wasn't a fair catch call and I've never seen a fair catch called like that.

The clapping call is something else I've never seen. I've never seen that penalty called that way. It happened during a string of calls that seemed intent on keeping Bama in the game.

The ghost review, after an obvious first down by Milton, that even CBS's biased announcers couldn't ignore, was another example. It sure looked like the officials were trying create an opportunity for Bama to substitute.

All these are perfect examples of SEC refs working at changing momentum in games IMO.

I don't know why Tennessee is thier punching bag this year. But I've never seen it this bad.

Florida if I remember correctly had a penalty called against them for clapping earlier in the season

 

[CAVPUT]

View attachment 589546

Video??

 

[volinSmyrna]

Thank you. Next question is which player are they talking about. CJH thought it was a front line player. I can’t imagine anyone considering what Dee was doing to be an attempted fair catch signal

It’s the new “T” signal everyone is using. I think it was habit/reflex and he realized “oh crap” halfway into it. My point of contention with that play is the white hat could have overlooked that pretty easily. Goodness knows he overlooked a ton for Bama, but it was applied by the letter.

 

[volinSmyrna]

Let’s assume Dee actually signaled for a fair catch meaning the ball is dead when fielded. Since it is inside the 25 yard line, shouldn’t have Tennessee received that ball on the 25 years line?

If he would have caught it, yes. Other returner caught it so it’s dead at that spot.

 

[papatomany]

The “T” signal is the signal everyone is using these days on kickoff return. You see it all the time on Saturdays and Sundays. My take is that it was just a reflex/habit for Dee to do it. Then he realized it was short and to Seldon and it was too late. Here is the application of the rule that got us. Do I think the official could have looked the other way? Sure. Goodness knows he is perfectly capable of doing that for Bama.

I get the rule. They've taken away the old fake fair catch play (which, personally I loved). What I don't get is: how in the world could that be considered a "waving motion"? By that measure, scratching your butt would be a "waving motion".

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

I dont think we are their punching bag.

I do think the CFP means too much money to not insure the teams with the easiest path there to get the calls.

Sometimes you wonder if the game is controlled by draftkings and vegas!

 

[AdoptedVOL]

Sometimes you wonder if the game is controlled by draftkings and vegas!

If this is true (and I don't believe it is), better look at the players and coaching staff. I'm not going there.

 

[Carl Pickens]

I dont think we are their punching bag.

I do think the CFP means too much money to not insure the teams with the easiest path there to get the calls.

To back up your point, Houston got screwed big time on a 3rd down spot deep in Texas territory near the end of the game. It was clearly a 1st down…. No review.. then they failed on 4th down

 

[jaybird_1981]

I could almost see the call if Dee made that motion. But he didn't. The other returner was probably signaling that the ball wasn't coming to him. Whatever it was, it obviously wasn't a fair catch call and I've never seen a fair catch called like that.

The clapping call is something else I've never seen. I've never seen that penalty called that way. It happened during a string of calls that seemed intent on keeping Bama in the game.

The ghost review, after an obvious first down by Milton, that even CBS's biased announcers couldn't ignore, was another example. It sure looked like the officials were trying create an opportunity for Bama to substitute.

All these are perfect examples of SEC refs working at changing momentum in games IMO.

I don't know why Tennessee is thier punching bag this year. But I've never seen it this bad.

The flag for the defensive delay of game for clapping came from the back judge and was thrown from the goal line at least 30 yards back from the line of scrimmage. It was a total joke. That call almost never happens but when it does the referee or umpire typically call it.

 

[Brawlvol]

The "signal" is the issue, valid or not the refs called it a valid fair catch signal, yet I'm not sure if Dee is the culprit for the "signal"?
Also was a whistle blown, immediately after the signal?

 

[GulfCoasterVol]

Because it was an invalid fair catch signal and another player touched it. It is down where that player touched it. If Dee had caught it, we would have had the ball at the 25.

It was not any kind of a fair catch signal. It the future I guess the should lay down flat of the ground and remain motionless as to not make any sudden moves of any kind.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I think I found it.

Here's a screen capture of the kickoff. Take note of the fella up front circled in orange:



And here's another screen shot, just a second or two later:


See how that player has his hand up above his head?

Here's a close-up, though it's not very high definition:


I don't really see him WAVING his arm, he just kind of seems to put it up in the air, maybe one single wave, then back down. Watch it yourself to see what you think:



Go to about 1:01:36 to start it, the hand over the head comes at 1:01:39. Almost immediately, they switch to a different camera from a new angle, but you can for just an instant still see the lad with his hand over his head from the new perspective before it pans away to the end zone.

Is this a penny-ante call on the refs part? Yes, I think so. I think this was the first harbinger of a "new mindset" by the referee crew after the half, who seem to have gotten some instructions to tilt the playing field in Bama's favor. It's not just a conspiracy theory; it's a conspiracy theory with repeated and fairly blatant evidence.

On the other hand, I have no idea why our player would do that. Not smart.

[Can't tell which player it is, too blurry to read jersey numbers.]

So. This was not about Dee Williams at all. Rather, one of the lads up front who inexplicably waved with his hand above his head at the wrong time.

Anyway, it is what it is. This isn't the reason we loss, though it contributed right alongside 50 other key mistakes.

We'll get them next year. For now, let's shift focus to the next game of this season.

Go Vols!

 

[chattavol420]

The justification we have never gotten is why (if in fact they were going to consider it a fair catch) didn’t Ball come out of the 25? If you fair, catch a kick off inside the five… You get it at the 25. Nobody ever gave a justification for that. They simply said they deemed this guy to have been calling for a fair catch so you get it at the 4.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

I could almost see the call if Dee made that motion. But he didn't. The other returner was probably signaling that the ball wasn't coming to him. Whatever it was, it obviously wasn't a fair catch call and I've never seen a fair catch called like that.

The clapping call is something else I've never seen. I've never seen that penalty called that way. It happened during a string of calls that seemed intent on keeping Bama in the game.

The ghost review, after an obvious first down by Milton, that even CBS's biased announcers couldn't ignore, was another example. It sure looked like the officials were trying create an opportunity for Bama to substitute.

All these are perfect examples of SEC refs working at changing momentum in games IMO.

I don't know why Tennessee is thier punching bag this year. But I've never seen it this bad.

I'm not a 'conspiracy theorist' type, but the officiating was so unbalanced, it's difficult to explain it without the refs being told to favor Bama in some way. And it's not the craziest thing --- we saw the same thing in the NBA back in the 90s / 00s . 1 ref was actually sent to prison (Tim Donaghy) for his role in fixing games for gambling reasons and he later admitted that the NBA fixed the Lakers-Kings series in 2002.

The clapping and 'fair catch' penalties, both fall into the "things we've literally never seen called and a ref would have to be going out of their way to even try to call". And the "fair catch" one wasn't even legit. While I wasn't aware of the rule on that, it's still irrelevant because his arms weren't even remotely 'above his head'. By the standard they used to make that call, you could literally call that on every single kickoff / punt return because some player 40 yards away from the ball moved his arms.

I know Heupel has to be infuriated and I'm not sure what he can do. But someone needs to be raising hell with the SEC right now, because this is getting ridiculous.

We made plenty of bad plays yesterday (and against Florida) that lost us the game, but there's no way to look at the officiating and not think something was off.

 

[vol4220]

You know its a bad call when the refs have to take five minutes to figure it out and then they announce it and everyone has to have it explained to them in the final two minutes of the game by CBS, Thanks Gary you FN moron.
Sorry had to get that out.

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

I'm not a 'conspiracy theorist' type, but the officiating was so unbalanced, it's difficult to explain it without the refs being told to favor Bama in some way. And it's not the craziest thing --- we saw the same thing in the NBA back in the 90s / 00s . 1 ref was actually sent to prison (Tim Donaghy) for his role in fixing games for gambling reasons and he later admitted that the NBA fixed the Lakers-Kings series in 2002.

The clapping and 'fair catch' penalties, both fall into the "things we've literally never seen called and a ref would have to be going out of their way to even try to call". And the "fair catch" one wasn't even legit. While I wasn't aware of the rule on that, it's still irrelevant because his arms weren't even remotely 'above his head'. By the standard they used to make that call, you could literally call that on every single kickoff / punt return because some player 40 yards away from the ball moved his arms.

I know Heupel has to be infuriated and I'm not sure what he can do. But someone needs to be raising hell with the SEC right now, because this is getting ridiculous.

We made plenty of bad plays yesterday (and against Florida) that lost us the game, but there's no way to look at the officiating and not think something was off.

I can't wait for this to be called because somebody is picking his nose

 

[wmcovol]

Iowa had a game stolen from them tonight on a similar BS call.

The refs are absolutely horrible across the board this year. It’s out of control

That crew was looking for tacky $h!t to call on Tennessee… that call, the delay of game on the defense, the “holding” on Jeudy-Lolly.

I don’t believe for a second the refs are told to favor Alabama but they are completely intimidated by Saban and his influence in the SEC. The SEC commissioner desperately wants at least 1 team in the CFP. Vols were just “collateral damage” on the road to get a 1 loss Alabama to Atlanta vs an unbeaten Georgia.

 

[Orangeslice13]

That crew was looking for tacky $h!t to call on Tennessee… that call, the delay of game on the defense, the “holding” on Jeudy-Lolly.

I don’t believe for a second the refs are told to favor Alabama but they are completely intimidated by Saban and his influence in the SEC. The SEC commissioner desperately wants at least 1 team in the CFP. Vols were just “collateral damage” on the road to get a 1 loss Alabama to Atlanta vs an unbeaten Georgia.

I think it’s personal choice or vendetta.
Tennessee vs Purdue. A ref just happened to know the coach from childhood.
The refs in the Texas vs Bama we’re not letting Bama win no matter what.
……
We can site 100 examples, then combine it with just pure incompetence and this is what we have.

There absolutely needs to be an independent audit or review after the fact to hold these guys accountable.

 

[Orange_Vol1321]

The “T” signal is the signal everyone is using these days on kickoff return. You see it all the time on Saturdays and Sundays. My take is that it was just a reflex/habit for Dee to do it. Then he realized it was short and to Seldon and it was too late. Here is the application of the rule that got us. Do I think the official could have looked the other way? Sure. Goodness knows he is perfectly capable of doing that for Bama.

This is used to show the team when the ball is going over their head into the endzone. Has nothing to do with a fair catch.