Spinoff thread - Is FAKING like you are injured LEGAL in NCAA..

This topic got lost at the end of that other long thread. Too catch you up. A poster posted the rules about injured players having time to get off the field. The rules as he posted stated that:

IF a player is injured or too tired to play safely he should be allowed time etc.....

I view this as a rule that does not come into effect UNLESS a player is injured. Now it seems to be agreed that everyone does it - but the question is it Legal.

Most think it is.

I say no it is not - the time allowed comes into play because the ref (rules enforcer) is lead to believe the player is injured. If a player is actually not injured he does not have the benefit of the time out.

It got to the point I posed the question:

If a player sid to the ref - hey, I want to fake an injury to slow this down, but I am fine. Can I?

My guess is that the ref would say no. If you are injured we can stop time. If the player did it anyway and told the ref he was fine - the ref in my mind would throw a flag for delay of game - another poster agreed but thought unsportsmanlike conduct.

The bottom line is if the player says he is fine while he is on the ground the ref will call the game. The player has to line up and play.

It is agreed that it is an easy rule to break/cheat/lie however you want to put it - but the debate is whether it is LEGAL TO FAKE AN INJURY TO INVOKE THE INJURY PROVISION OF THE RULES.

Nobody knows the answer - I feel pretty strong about my stance but I don't know.

Basically you can sum it up my answering that question to the ref by a player on the field, lying down and asking the ref, can I get an injury time out even though I am fine? What would ref say:


Please keep this about the rules - this has no team bias even if certain team fans feel a little guilt. All teams do it. Its team neutral.