Continuation, continued...

Having covered continuation for calls made by the thrower yesterday, now what about calls made by a non-thrower?

Here, the first criterion is which team is considered the team in possession, ignoring the infraction, after the outcome of the pass. The choices are:

(1) the team that 'called' the infraction has possession (e.g., offensive foul with a turfed throw, or defensive violation with a completed pass) [11th Ref: XVI.C.2.a)]; or

(2) the team that 'committed' the infraction has possession (e.g., offensive violation with a completed pass, or a defensive foul with an interception) [11th Ref: XVI.C.2.b)].

And by "the team ... has possession", a person doesn't actually need to have physical possession, but rather the 'team' that has or may pick up the disc. [11th Ref: II.O.4.]

For the 'team that called' half, there's two main resolutions, which are a combination of which team (offense or defense) made the call, and whether the infraction was before or after the (start of the) throw. It's a lot of conditions to memorize--thrower/non-thrower, then called/committed, then offense/defense along with before/after the throw...whew--so let's try to make easy sense of it instead.

First, in concept, if the offense calls it and the offense keeps it, then it's exactly the same as if the thrower had made the call. Which is that an infraction before the throw will come back to the thrower, i.e., no free throw [11th Ref: XVI.C.2.a)(1)]; but one during the act of throwing stays completed [11th Ref: XVI.C.2.a)(2)].

And regardless of when the throw happens, if the defense calls it and the pass is turned over, it's always a turnover and a "play on" situation without a stoppage [11th Ref: XVI.C.2.a)(2)]. This makes sense: if the offense can't complete the pass WITH the infraction that disadvantages the defense, they really shouldn't be given the chance to redo the play. Or in other words, this best simulates what would most likely have happened absent the infraction.

And then for the 'team that committed' half, there's two main resolutions (easier than the 'called' half), which is whether or not the call 'affected the play' (that concept covered in another post). If the infraction affected the play, then the disc usually gets returned, unless another more specific rule applies (e.g., uncontested offensive receiving foul) [11th Refs: XVI.C.2.b)(1); XVI.H.3.b)(2)]; and if not, the play will stand [11th Ref: XVI.C.2.b)(2)].

It's important to note that in both cases, play will stop regardless of whether the result of the play stands or the disc is returned. In other words, when the play stands, rather than it being "play on" unhalted, a discussion will typically be necessary to determine whether the play was affected, and as such play really needs to stop.

Remember that if the infraction affected the play, it'll usually go back to the thrower, so is fair to the offense to reverse the turnover when the defense caused the infraction, and is fair to the defense to not let the pass stand when the offense caused it.

We go over 'affecting the play' in more detail in another post, but for here, think of examples where the infractions truly do not affect the play: a pick where the defender may have been 9 feet away at the time of the pick with no chance to block the pass even without the pick; or a foul on a receiver who is “two passes away” from a thrower who turfs a throw to another open receiver up the line. (Note that in both of these situations the call is still valid, and play stops, but the outcome of the play stands.)

In both of these cases, with or without the infraction, the result of the pass was very likely to be the same. So in keeping with the philosophy that, in general, we want to simulate the outcome that would have occurred absent the infraction, the play stands.

For some final words today, let me cycle back to a sentence I skipped at the very beginning, and then we'll save the rest of the rule for another time. And that is, "[ ... ] an uncontested stall that occurs after another call is treated the same as an incomplete pass." In other words, a call that the thrower doesn't acknowledge before "ten", is resolved the same as if he had turfed a throw instead of being stalled.
[11th Ref: XVI.C.]

What this means is either it was a defensive call and therefore it'll be a "play on" situation [11th Ref: XVI.C.2.a)(2)]; or it was an offensive call and the disc stays with the thrower, assuming the call affected the play (e.g., intended receivers no longer viable option because of the infraction) [11th Ref: XVI.C.2.b)(1)], or the stall stands if it did not affect the play [11th Ref: XVI.C.2.b)(2)].

One of the most effective ways of helping to make sure the thrower isn't stalled after a call, is for players (as many as possible) to echo the call so that the thrower is aware of the call as quickly as possible. [11th Ref: XIX.F.]

We'll take care of the rest of the continuation rule (i.e., affecting the play, and positioning after a call) another day.

Play on.