Tom Higgins
CFL.ca
Q: Why did the Calgary Stampeders not get penalized for too many men on a Montreal punt on Friday night?
A: Calgary WAS penalized for that foul. On the same play Montreal committed a No Yards infraction and according to the rules, the two penalties; (10 yards against Calgary for Too Many Men and 15 yards against Montreal for No Yards) were balanced at the previous line of scrimmage. The net result was a 5 yard difference applied against Montreal and the third down was repeated.
There are several penalty options in the rules, which allow a team to accept a penalty or to allow the play result to stand. In the case of Too Many Men on defence, the flag is thrown when the ball is snapped but the play continues until concluded. If Montreal had not committed the No Yards infraction and Calgary had fumbled the ball during the kick return with Montreal recovering, Montreal could have declined the Too Many Men penalty and taken possession of the ball. It is for these sorts of eventualities that we have the option of accepting the penalty or accepting the play as it terminated.
Q: Calvin McCarty, an Edmonton runningback, was tackled by a Hamilton player, landed on top of him and then fumbled. Why wasn’t he ruled down on that play?
A: The rule says the ball should be ruled dead, when after contact by an opponent, some portion of a player’s body, other than his hands or feet, touches the ground. In this case, no “other portion” of McCarty’s body touched the ground, so when the fumble occurred the ball was live and Hamilton legally recovered.
