This works for me.Georgia did this a few times versus Alabama. The “injured” players were back and full speed within a few minutes. Pretty obvious, pretty blatant. Clutching at ankles, etc.
The rule should be if they are injured enough to call a stoppage in play, ie so injured they are unable to ambulate themselves to the sideline within 30-40 seconds, they’re done for the half. Truly injured players shouldn’t be going back out and aggravating problems anyway.
What about cramps? Those can legitimately make it so a player can't get off the field under their own power quickly and might cause a stoppage of play, however there isn't a long term issue and the player will tend to recover quickly.Georgia did this a few times versus Alabama. The “injured” players were back and full speed within a few minutes. Pretty obvious, pretty blatant. Clutching at ankles, etc.
The rule should be if they are injured enough to call a stoppage in play, ie so injured they are unable to ambulate themselves to the sideline within 30-40 seconds, they’re done for the half. Truly injured players shouldn’t be going back out and aggravating problems anyway.
Yes. And also with just getting the wind knocked out of you.... Puts you down for a while struggling to breathe and soon totally ok and good to go. Nothing fake about it.What about cramps? Those can legitimately make it so a player can't get off the field under their own power quickly and might cause a stoppage of play, however there isn't a long term issue and the player will tend to recover quickly.
Being done for the half would be pretty strong penalty for a player who is cramping up. Football is a violent game, there are lots of times where guys are in a lot of pain for short periods but are able to recover and aren't injured.
Yes it sucks when guys fake injuries but I really don't think it happens enough to put the officials in the position of having to decide if a player is faking it or not. And you definitely don't want to put the players in the position of feeling like they have to scramble off the field to avoid losing a big chunk of playing time for being hurt on a play.
What about cramps? Those can legitimately make it so a player can't get off the field under their own power quickly and might cause a stoppage of play, however there isn't a long term issue and the player will tend to recover quickly.
Being done for the half would be pretty strong penalty for a player who is cramping up. Football is a violent game, there are lots of times where guys are in a lot of pain for short periods but are able to recover and aren't injured.
Yes it sucks when guys fake injuries but I really don't think it happens enough to put the officials in the position of having to decide if a player is faking it or not. And you definitely don't want to put the players in the position of feeling like they have to scramble off the field to avoid losing a big chunk of playing time for being hurt on a play.
And if the team has no time outs remaining, which would be a likely reason to do it in the first place?No perfect answer to the issue. They could charge time-outs to the team in it's in the last 2 minutes of a half. They also should just stop stopping the clock on every first down and that that would make up for time lost to any injury.
I think the clock rule as they have it is fine. Not like the old days when a first down used to stop the clock until the next play was run. Now it just stops the clock until the ball is set.No perfect answer to the issue. They could charge time-outs to the team in it's in the last 2 minutes of a half. They also should just stop stopping the clock on every first down and that that would make up for time lost to any injury.
Yeah, reviewing injuries after the fact to determine if the player was faking or not would open up a whole new can of worms that I don't think anyone wants to deal with.I don't see any way to accurately determine, in real time, what is legitimate and what is play-acting. There are way too many variables and legitimate "temporary" injuries like cramping. And when you start punishing players for getting injured just because you think they may be faking or forcing them to get off the field in a set amount of time, you enter a world of liability issues when a truly injured player gets even more injured due to a new rule.
The only deterrent I can think of would be to have some sort of review process after the game. Then you could hold out players for subsequent games and/or punish coaches if it is determined that the injury was most likely faked. We have seen examples of players looking to the sideline and then collapsing in a heap for no apparent reason. Those should be punished. But if you try to do it during the game it becomes a logistical nightmare. Punishment in the future won't help the game being played but it would make coaches and player evaluate if it's worth faking an injury for a free time out if it means risking future game eligibility.
Even that is far from perfect. Unfortunately, I think this is one case of "gamesmanship" that may just have to be lived with.
Heck coaches bitch about fake injuries at the HS level.I think the clock rule as they have it is fine. Not like the old days when a first down used to stop the clock until the next play was run. Now it just stops the clock until the ball is set.
But do agree there really isn't a great answer to this issue. We all know it happens sometimes but trying to figure out when a player is actually hurt vs. when they are faking being injured to slow the pace of the offense would be next to impossible in most cases.
Even after the game investigations is gonna open up a whole can of worms.Yeah, reviewing injuries after the fact to determine if the player was faking or not would open up a whole new can of worms that I don't think anyone wants to deal with.
If offenses are going to run this insane tempo that some teams try to run, you are going to have defenses doing things like faking or exaggerating an injury to give themselves a chance to catch their breath.
And I seriously wonder just how big an issue this really is. Clearly it happens, but does it happen enough to really warrant a rule change of some kind to try and stop it?Even after the game investigations is gonna open up a whole can of worms.
Teams are going to feel like they should report a guy as injured for "bilateral leg weakness" because they fear an investigation and think it might help show that he was injured .... but if you report a guy as injured a bunch or at all ... maybe impact draft stock ... or now you're encouraging / scrutinizing injury reports and ...
Man it's a mess.
I don’t know if I agree with half but until the next change of possession for sure. Half is a lot.Georgia did this a few times versus Alabama. The “injured” players were back and full speed within a few minutes. Pretty obvious, pretty blatant. Clutching at ankles, etc.
The rule should be if they are injured enough to call a stoppage in play, ie so injured they are unable to ambulate themselves to the sideline within 30-40 seconds, they’re done for the half. Truly injured players shouldn’t be going back out and aggravating problems anyway.
You pretty much took the words right out of my mouth.I will add that if someone's offense is so fragile that because someone on defense got hurt that they can't score because there was a break for an injured player ... that's the offense's problem and if ti costs them the game then maybe the better team won?
I get the concerns about gaming the system but maybe this is really just a situation where they're trying to rewrite the rules to cater to a particular type of offense an maybe that's kinda dumb.
I don’t know if I agree with half but until the next change of possession for sure. Half is a lot.
there are legitimate injuries you can get that cause you to miss 3-5 plays. If you get your wind knocked out in the first play of the game should you not be able to play again until the third quarter?
I will add that if someone's offense is so fragile that because someone on defense got hurt that they can't score because there was a break for an injured player ... that's the offense's problem and if ti costs them the game then maybe the better team won?
I get the concerns about gaming the system but maybe this is really just a situation where they're trying to rewrite the rules to cater to a particular type of offense an maybe that's kinda dumb.
Maybe if a player appears to be injured bad enough to stop the game, they should sit out at least 2 minutes of the game clock. You might see mildly hurt players such it up and keep playing, and moderately injured players try to get off the field right away, so they can get back in the game asap.I don’t know if I agree with half but until the next change of possession for sure. Half is a lot.
there are legitimate injuries you can get that cause you to miss 3-5 plays. If you get your wind knocked out in the first play of the game should you not be able to play again until the third quarter?
Yeah. I think that’s harder to police than just they can’t come in until the next change of possession but that’s what I’m trying to get towards. A half is way too long IMO.Maybe if a player appears to be injured bad enough to stop the game, they should sit out at least 2 minutes of the game clock. You might see mildly hurt players such it up and keep playing, and moderately injured players try to get off the field right away, so they can get back in the game asap.
I don’t disagree with you in the problem but the solution will not just impact fake injuries m, it will also impact real injuriesThe issue in my mind is the gaining of unearned timeouts, and it’s an integrity of the game issue similar to crooked or biased officials. I saw more faked injuries this season than ever before, and I probably watched fewer games this season than in the last twenty years.
I‘d argue there are now more instances of faked injuries than instances of minor issues like getting the wind knocked out of oneself. There just aren’t a lot of “minor injuries” where a) one cannot get off the field and b) can re-enter the game a few plays or minutes later no worse for wear without a trainer exam/shake down. Therefore, in my mind while it stinks for those players, the penalty has to be harsh enough to discourage the crime.
With an up tempo offense snapping the ball so quickly, more than likely the defense is going to either be playing with 10 guys or will get called for 12 men on the field as the injured guy either won't be able to get off the field in time or the replacement won't have time to get to his position.Maybe if a player appears to be injured bad enough to stop the game, they should sit out at least 2 minutes of the game clock. You might see mildly hurt players such it up and keep playing, and moderately injured players try to get off the field right away, so they can get back in the game asap.