Why do NFL refs announce when a lineman is a eligible receiver?

[staticshock]

I never understood that..it’s like they are letting the defense know something could happen by a lineman going out for a pass. It should be something that catches the defense by surprise

 

[MikelArteta]

You only need to declare an eligible player if his number is a 50-79 which are linemen’s numbers and typically ineligible receivers.

 

[Big Boss]

Make sure teams dont cheat

 

[No..Money..Mo..Problems]

I never understood that..it’s like they are letting the defense know something could happen by a lineman going out for a pass. It should be something that catches the defense by surprise

That's the point the pats tried this against Baltimore a couple years ago in a playoff game. Look at it this way if the refs don't announce it, it throws everything out of wack for the defense. It would be trickery all day by the offense. Defensive lineman are trying to rush the passer if the offensive lineman is allowed to remain eligible without letting the defense know so they can matchup the qb would just abuse the heck out of it and throw to the wide open lineman every time. That would be terrible football nobody would watch every game would end 70-81.

 

[bigrice25]

it also can throw the Refs off because its against the rules for linemen to be downfield

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

That's the point the pats tried this against Baltimore a couple years ago in a playoff game. Look at it this way if the refs don't announce it, it throws everything out of wack for the defense. It would be trickery all day by the offense. Defensive lineman are trying to rush the passer if the offensive lineman is allowed to remain eligible without letting the defense know so they can matchup the qb would just abuse the heck out of it and throw to the wide open lineman every time. That would be terrible football nobody would watch every game would end 70-81.

it also can throw the Refs off because its against the rules for linemen to be downfield

it has nothing to do with the refs, as the offense has ALWAYS had to report eligible linemen to the ref


the problem was, not really any teams used the rules, to their advantage. the pats used it, refs called everything correctly, they won, and a lot of the league and fans called them cheaters for it. nobody was expecting, or even knew it was legal, to line up 4 WR, tell the ref that only 3 were eligible, and then have a OL catching passes. they weren't even guarding him


even tho it was in the rules, everyone felt they had to exploit the rule book in order to come back and win... the very next year, like 3 games later, the nfl changed the rules so you not only have to tell the ref... but the ref must tell the other team.

 

[C-NICE]

This times 10000 can you imagine a defense having 5 seconds to figure out which lineman was eligible to catch a pass and figure out what wide receiver could block them. It would be too confusing so hence the rule

it has nothing to do with the refs, as the offense has ALWAYS had to report eligible linemen to the ref


the problem was, not really any teams used the rules, to their advantage. the pats used it, refs called everything correctly, they won, and a lot of the league and fans called them cheaters for it. nobody was expecting, or even knew it was legal, to line up 4 WR, tell the ref that only 3 were eligible, and then have a OL catching passes. they weren't even guarding him


even tho it was in the rules, everyone felt they had to exploit the rule book in order to come back and win... the very next year, like 3 games later, the nfl changed the rules so you not only have to tell the ref... but the ref must tell the other team.