Kenny Kelarek, past-president of the Temple-area chapter of football officials, outlined several areas of focus that will be new, re-emphasized or de-emphasized this season. These points have been impressed upon this chapter of 150 officials who will call games throughout Central Texas this fall.
Kelarek said there has been a redefining of the chop block, essentially lifting the restrictions to calling it. A chop block is a block below the knees when the defensive player being blocked is already engaged. Previously, the call primarily had been made outside the line of scrimmage. Now, officials will be free to call it on interior linemen.
“This rule has been simplified so that at any time you see a guy hit high and low you can call it,” Kelarek said. “I anticipate seeing more of these calls this year.
“This is a good change,” he said. “The defensive linemen were really getting blocked in a manner that was not safe. Now, if we see it, we don’t have to worry about who they blocked.”
The horse-collar call - an infraction against a tackler who grabs a ball carrier by the back inside of the shoulder pads or neck of the jersey and yanks him down - has come into vogue in the NFL. This year it will be somewhat of a focus at the college and high school levels.
Kelarek said this infraction still might not get a lot of calls at the lower levels. He said it will not be called on players when they sack a quarterback or ball carrier “inside the tackle box.” He said the call is in place to guard against catastrophic injuries and will be seen more often in an open-field tackling situation.
The 5-yard unintentional facemask penalty is history. Kelarek said that in reviewing this penalty through the years, some six out of 10 calls were deemed unnecessary.
“These fouls weren’t safety issues,” he said.
Of course, it’s still a 15-yard penalty when a facemask is pulled, turned or twisted. Merely brushing your hand against an opponent’s mask is not a penalty.
Kelarek said we no longer will see the sideline warnings that have become routine. Now, the first time players or coaches encroach beyond their sideline boundaries it will be a penalty. The first two infractions will be 5-yard delay-of-game penalties. Any subsequent abuse of the rule will result in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.
This rule was sparked by an incident in San Antonio several years ago when a collision seriously injured a coach.
“We’ve worked with coaches and I hope this change won’t be noticeable,” Kelarek said. “There’s been 50 years of culture to change.”
This situation became a bigger issue as more teams went to spread offenses, utilizing virtually the entire width of the field. Kelarek said the retro move to tighter formations such as those that Temple, Rogers, Killeen Ellison and others are employing do, by nature, reduces the probability of this infraction.
The annual concern about helmet-to-helmet contact and leading with the helmet figures to be called tightly as well, according to Kelarek.
“We’re going to put the clamps on anyone who leads above the head,” he said. “That will be a point of emphasis.”
Kelarek said that during a change of quarter or timeout, the referee will give three blasts from the whistle 20 seconds prior to the time required to return to the field to alert the teams.
twaits@temple-telegram.com
