Officials Area

Question: 1st down and the ball is placed 3 yards after the 1st down marker  Penalty on the offense - False start.
 
Result of the penalty brings them back 5 yards which now places them 2 yards before the original 1st down marker. Would that be first and short to the orginal 1st down marker or would that be 1st and long to the "second" 1st down marker? 

Answer: It would be 1st down to the "Second" 1st Down Marker.

If the male receiver doesn't attempt to catch the ball after it's tipped by a female player, then it counts as a female play. Even if he intentionally knocks it to the ground after a female tipped it, we would allow that as a female play. However, if a male player attempts to catch the pass after it has been tipped by a female player then it is a male play.

Now if the ball is tipped by a male, and caught by a female, this would be considered a female play.

Again, the last player to "attempt" to catch a pass is the person that determines what kind of gender play it is.

Question:  How is a Gender Play determined if a Catch isn't Made?

Answer: The last player to "attempt" to catch a pass is the person that determines the gender play.

Question: Male QB receives the ball and passes to a female (the ball is thrown pass the scrimmage line). Female catches it and pitches off to a male. Male catches the pitch and gains 7 more yards. The argument was the ball was passed toward a female pass the scrimmage line so it should count as a female play no matter what. 

Answer: Yes, that is correct.  The first catch is the only catch that matters. 

In your scenario from last night, that does count as a gender play because the female "caught" a pass that was beyond the line of scrimmage. What she does with the ball after that is irrelevant. Once an initial catch is made, any pitches are irrelevant. 

However, if she catches the ball and pitches it to a male player who then scores a TD, it is only a 6pt TD. 

Question: Can a player that was handed the ball off infront of the QB behind the line of scrimmage then proceeded to attempt a forward pass?

Answer: Yes

Question: Can you also verify the illegal rushing call? If the rusher jumps into the no rushing zone prior to the snap, but re- establish themselves behind the rushing line after the snap without ever crossing the line of scrimmage, can they rush at that time?

Answer: A player's rushing status is determined by where they are at the time of the snap. If a player is inside the rush line at the time of the snap, he/she cannot step behind the rush line and then rush the QB.

There is no re-setting of your position after the ball has been snapped.

Question:  Time winding down from 5 seconds, ball on the 5 yard line.  The offense has no time outs remaining, however the qb then says Timeout.  The players move before the center hikes the ball with 3 seconds left.  Should this play been called dead due to a false start?.. or is there a clock penalty due to an illegal timeout causing the game to end?

Answer: It's an illegal Time out on the offense, time should expired which would end the game.