Hi!

I have a question about rule 4 (scrimmage), section 2 (method of scrimmage), article 1 (action of centre)...


quote: "On a scrimmage play, the centre of Team A shall take up his position facing the opponents' goal line with the ball in front of him on the ground in front of him. He shall put the ball in play by snapping it between his legs in one continuous motion in the direction from toe to heal. The ball must leave the hand or hands and he shall not handle it again until it has been in possession of another player".


Is the centre allowed to raise the football (off the ground) to get a grip on the ball, even though the play has been blown in? It states that "rotating or placing the hand beneath the ball is allowed", but doesn't state anything about raising the ball completely off the ground (picking it up) to get a grip on the ball...

One more comment… assuming the play has been whistled in and the offensive line is set, does the centre have 2 options: “raising the ball to get a grip” or just snapping the ball? Under this logic, from the defense perspective the defense has to “stay back” until they clearly see that the ball is being snapped and not just raised up to get a good grip on the ball?

The rule clearly states that their must be a one continuous motion… See what my point is? In my opinion raising the ball in any way other than to snap it gives the offense an unfair advantage… the center could just snap the football and get a quick jump on the defense or draw them offside if he just raised it… kind of like a balk in baseball… comments?

Thank you for your question and sorry for the delay in response.

This issue will be discussed and re-evaluated by the Football Canada Tackle Rules Committee. In the past this was not typically an issue as the Centre was usually the first offensive lineman to leave the huddle and reach a set position. Now-a-days, with the increased use of the no huddle offense this is not always the case.

If you have any other questions or comments please feel free to follow up at tacklerules@footballcanada.com.