11-07-2024, 10:11 AM
I think there should be video review allowed, after the fact... even if it is days later... if/when there is an obvious fake injury that stops the play of the game.
I saw a prime example happen in a high school game somewhat recently. A team was moving the ball down the field and had just run a play where they got a first down. The team on offense most definitely had gained momentum. After the play had ended and players were collecting themselves on their respective sides, one of the defensive players is trotting toward their sideline, motioning/waving to the sideline with one hand and pointing to the back of their leg with the other hand. They had actually crossed the hash marks as they approached their sideline, still trotting. The player, looking at their sideline, suddenly stopped, and you could see they were looking at something/someone on their sideline. They turned and moved back toward the rest of the players on the field, and then just suddenly flopped down on the field. One other player was standing there next to them, and had also been watching the whole thing. That player began motioning toward the sideline, pointing down toward the guy now laying down on the field. Officials promptly waved to stop the clock, blowing their whistle, and an official's timeout was given.
This was blatant. I'm thinking that if someone wanted to they could probably provide the GHSA with video to show what happened. Thing is, what could/would come of it?
This should be something at all levels of play... all the way through the NFL... where a team is heavily penalized for doing stuff like that. Sure, there are going to be many... if not most... cases, in which someone isn't going to be caught. There is no way to implement a foolproof system to stop it. They could, though, do something like require a player who goes down with injury to not be allowed back on the field for considerably longer than just one play (that is all they have to sit out, currently).
There are other such issues that should also be addressed. I watched a team purposely grabbing a ball carrier's facemask and literally pulling their helmet off of them in order to have the play blown dead. This would take place when a ball carrier was in the secondary of the defense and the person grabbing their facemask was probably the last person who had a chance to stop them from scoring. This happened multiple times in the same game. There is far too great a risk for serious injury ... grabbing a facemask.... to allow something like that go unchecked.
Just my opinion, but it speaks very badly of a coach and coaching staff when you find teams resorting to this type of stuff as part of their in-game strategy.
I saw a prime example happen in a high school game somewhat recently. A team was moving the ball down the field and had just run a play where they got a first down. The team on offense most definitely had gained momentum. After the play had ended and players were collecting themselves on their respective sides, one of the defensive players is trotting toward their sideline, motioning/waving to the sideline with one hand and pointing to the back of their leg with the other hand. They had actually crossed the hash marks as they approached their sideline, still trotting. The player, looking at their sideline, suddenly stopped, and you could see they were looking at something/someone on their sideline. They turned and moved back toward the rest of the players on the field, and then just suddenly flopped down on the field. One other player was standing there next to them, and had also been watching the whole thing. That player began motioning toward the sideline, pointing down toward the guy now laying down on the field. Officials promptly waved to stop the clock, blowing their whistle, and an official's timeout was given.
This was blatant. I'm thinking that if someone wanted to they could probably provide the GHSA with video to show what happened. Thing is, what could/would come of it?
This should be something at all levels of play... all the way through the NFL... where a team is heavily penalized for doing stuff like that. Sure, there are going to be many... if not most... cases, in which someone isn't going to be caught. There is no way to implement a foolproof system to stop it. They could, though, do something like require a player who goes down with injury to not be allowed back on the field for considerably longer than just one play (that is all they have to sit out, currently).
There are other such issues that should also be addressed. I watched a team purposely grabbing a ball carrier's facemask and literally pulling their helmet off of them in order to have the play blown dead. This would take place when a ball carrier was in the secondary of the defense and the person grabbing their facemask was probably the last person who had a chance to stop them from scoring. This happened multiple times in the same game. There is far too great a risk for serious injury ... grabbing a facemask.... to allow something like that go unchecked.
Just my opinion, but it speaks very badly of a coach and coaching staff when you find teams resorting to this type of stuff as part of their in-game strategy.
