Collar I.D.
All players are prohibited from…grabbing the inside collar of the back
of the shoulder pads or jersey, or the inside collar of the side of the shoulder
pads or jersey, and immediately pulling down the runner. This does not apply
to a runner who is in the tackle box or to a quarterback who is in the pocket.
Penalty: Loss of 15 yards. If any of the above
acts is judged by the official(s) to be flagrant, the offender may be disqualified
as long as the entire action is observed by the official(s).
The 2006 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League, Rule
12, Section 2, Article 1
At least two officials didn’t get
the memo.
In
the second week of the 2006 season, the Seattle Seahawks won a game against
the Arizona Cardinals…and started
to lose their franchise running back. Cardinals cornerback
Antrel Rolle and defensive tackle Darnell Dockett
took Shaun Alexander down by the back of the jersey collar on separate plays.
Both “tackles” occurred outside the tackle box, but the officials best in
position to call the penalties, side judge Carl Cheffers
and umpire Undrey Walsh, did not do so. Both Rolle
and Dockett were fined by the league after the plays were reviewed. Eventually,
the new focus on the “Roy Williams Rule” (named after the Dallas safety infamous for his reverse takedowns) took hold, and 14
horse-collars were flagged during the 2006 season.
That
factoid didn’t help Alexander. The foot injury that first gained momentum
in the season opener against the Detroit Lions grew a real head of steam following
the Rolle and Dockett infractions. After 20 rushing attempts in Game 3 against
the Giants, Alexander was lost for six games to a broken metatarsal bone in
his left foot. Though Cheffers and Wash
later admitted that they caught hell from the league for missing the calls,
the NFL’s professed interest in using the rulebook to protect its players
takes a blow with every missed horse-collar call.
What
does this have to do with Seattle’s
2007 season opener? The head official in that Arizona game was Larry Nemmers, and he’ll be the top dog for the Seahawks’
2007 opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cheffers and Wash
are still on his crew, in the same old familiar places:
REFEREE:
Larry Nemmers—(20);
UMPIRE: Undrey
Wash—(96);
HEAD LINESMAN: Mark Baltz—(26);
LINE JUDGE: Mike Spanier—(90);
FIELD JUDGE: Eddy Powers—(38);
SIDE JUDGE: Carl Cheffers—(51);
BACK JUDGE: Dino Paganelli—(105);
REPLAY: Lloyd McPeters;
VIDEO: Don Langeloh.
Inside the Numbers
Despite his crew’s inability to call
horse-collars, Nemmers (we’ll refer to his crew in his person from now on
for the sake of expediency) ranked among the most prolific flaggers
in 2006 with 226, which was sixth overall among 17 crews – this per penalty
data compiled by Football Outsiders. Ironically, Nemmers led the NFL in Unsportsmanlike
Conduct calls with 7. He called more Illegal Contact than Pass Interference
penalties – the swing on those two penalties among crews is a real eye-opener.
His 42 holding penalties ties with Ed Hochuli and Gene Steratore ranked second
behind Walt Anderson’s 44.
Holding and False Start are going
to be the most frequently called penalties in any given season, and the Seahawks
ranked highly in both for the 2006 season – this was a reflection of the transitional
nature of their offensive line. Seattle’s 25 holds ranked third behind only Oakland and Minnesota; their
27 False Starts tied them with four other teams at fourth-worst in the NFL.
Nemmers’ 45 False Start calls was just over the league
average, and nowhere near Ron Winter’s 58.
Nemmers’ crew called two games in
which the Seahawks played last season – the aforementioned 21-10 win over
the Cardinals, and the 20-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 11. Both games featured
balanced calls – the seven penalties in the Cardinals game went four for Seattle
and three for Arizona, and the 10 flags in the loss to
San Francisco saw five assigned to each team.
Nemmers also called one Tampa
Bay game in 2006 – the Week 15 loss to the Chicago
Bear at Soldier Field, a 34-31 squeaker. The 19 penalties in that game broke
out as nine for Tampa Bay
and 10 for Chicago. Nemmers didn’t seem to have a home penalty bias, with 104
against the home teams and 122 for the visitors.
Here are the total penalties called
by Nemmers’ crew in 2006:
| Penalty |
Number |
Yards |
| False
Start |
45 |
211 |
| Offensive
Holding |
42 |
347 |
| Defensive
Offside |
16 |
51 |
| Illegal
Contact |
12 |
45 |
| Unnecessary
Roughness |
12 |
136 |
| Defensive
Holding |
12 |
45 |
| Unsportsmanlike
Conduct |
7 |
94 |
| Offensive Pass Interference |
7 |
60 |
| Encroachment |
7 |
35 |
| Delay
of Game |
7 |
35 |
| Roughing
the Passer |
7 |
102 |
| Illegal
Block Above the Waist |
7 |
64 |
| Defensive Pass Interference |
7 |
98 |
| Personal
Foul |
6 |
78 |
| Illegal
Use of Hands |
5 |
21 |
| Neutral
Zone Infraction |
3 |
15 |
| Illegal
Formation |
3 |
5 |
| Face
Mask (15 Yards) |
3 |
45 |
| Illegal
Forward Pass |
2 |
10 |
| Chop
Block |
2 |
30 |
| Illegal
Substitution |
2 |
10 |
| Defensive
12 On-field |
2 |
5 |
| Invalid
Fair Catch Signal |
1 |
5 |
| Offensive
Offside |
1 |
5 |
| Fair
Catch Interference |
1 |
15 |
| Illegal
Touch Kick |
1 |
5 |
| Tripping |
1 |
10 |
| Ineligible
Downfield Kick |
1 |
5 |
| Taunting |
1 |
15 |
| Face
Mask (5 Yards) |
1 |
5 |
| Illegal
Motion |
1 |
5 |
| Intentional
Grounding |
1 |
10 |
| TOTALS |
226 |
1622 |
|