Illegal Procedure penalty regarding being "set"

[Y-town97]

I was at a game and the offense had their wingback lined up in a three point stance. He was in the backfield, but as he was going down in his three point stance, the ball was snapped.

He was not "set" for a full second. I had always presumed that that would warrant an illegal procedure penalty. The referee indicated that it wasn't a penalty (he did not give an expanation).

Any clarification over this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[White hat]

Not sure without seeing it or hearing from the R what his thoughts are.

The wingback should be set for a second if he goes down into a 3-pt stance, but if he was not stepping forward the R could easily have thought it was not any advantage -- in fact he might have been putting himself a half-count behind the rest of the offense and putting himself at a disadvantage.

Just a guess.

 

[FBRef]

All 11 players have to be set for one second before the ball is snapped. "Set" just means that all 11 have to be still for one second before the snap. That doesn't mean he has to be set at the snap. If all 11 are set, he can then move, whether he's going down or going in motion. The only thing he can't do is be moving forward when the ball is snapped.

 

[Y-town97]

Hey guys thanks for the great insight. The player (it was a middle school game) was basically lost on the field and originally moved to the slot out of the huddle and then to wingback position. He never was set anywhere on the field for a full second.

As to White Hat's question of the advantage he gained, he did not gain any advantage at all (in fact he was disadvantaged as you pointed out), but it was a big fourth down play and they got the first down.

I guess at the middle school level they will not be that nit-picky, so I suppose that is a call made more at the varsity level.

 

[White hat]

Originally posted by Y-town97:
I guess at the middle school level they will not be that nit-picky, so I suppose that is a call made more at the varsity level.

There you go. If we were nit-picky in middle school football there would be 65 penalties and no one would ever get a first down. Who wants to see that?

 

[FBRef]

Not I. But....

...there are fundamentals that need to be taught at that level. it would seem to me that getting all 11 players to set for 1 second would be one of them. JMO.

 

[Fadamor]

In an ideal world, we could start getting strict on the fundamentals at the middle school level. But as it is, we still have to deal with VARSITY teams who haven't grasped the concept of getting set.

 

[FBRef]

Thanks...you just made my point.