Emergencies and Unfair Acts
Emergencies -- Policy
The National Football League requires all League personnel, including
game officials, League office employees, players, coaches, and other
club employees to use best effort to see that each game -- preseason,
regular season, and postseason -- is played to its conclusion. The
League recognizes, however, that emergencies may arise that make
a game’s completion impossible or inadvisable. Such circumstances
may include, but are not limited to, severely inclement weather,
natural or manmade disaster, power failure, and spectator interference.
Games should be suspended, cancelled, postponed, or terminated when
circumstances exist such that comencement or continuation of play
would pose a threat to the safety of participants or spectators.
Authority of Commissioner’s Office
1. Authority to cancel, postpone, or terminate games is vested
only in the Commissioner and the League President (other League
office representatives and referees may suspend play temporarily;
see point No. 3 under this section and point No. 1 under "Authority
of Referee" below). The following definitions apply:
• Cancel. To cancel a game is to nullify it either before
or after it begins and to make no provision for rescheduling it
or for including its score or
other performance statistics in League records.
• Postpone. To postpone a game is (a) to defer its starting
time to a later date, or (b) to suspend it after play has begun
and to make provision to resume at a later date with all scores
and other performance statistics up to the point of postponement
added to those achieved in the resumed portion of the game.
• Terminate. To terminate a game is to end it short of a
full 60 minutes of play, to record it officially as a completed
game, and to make no provision to resume it at a later date. The
Commissioner or League President may terminate a game in an emergency
if, in his opinion, it is reasonable to project that its resumption
(a) would not change its ultimate result or (b) would not adversely
affect any other interteam competitive issue.
• Forfeit. The Commissioner, (except in cases of disciplinary
action; see last section on "Removing Team from Field"),
League President, and their representatives, including referees,
are not authorized unilaterally to declare forfeits. A forfeit occurs
only when a game is not played because of the failure or refusal
of one team to participate. In that event, the other team, if ready
and willing to play, is the winner by a score of 2-0.
2. If an emergency arises that may require cancellation, postponement,
or termination (see above), the highest ranking representative from
the Commissioner’s office working the game in a "control"
capacity will consult with the Commissioner, League President, or
game-day duty officer designated by the League (by telephone, if
that person is not in attendance) concerning such decision. If circumstances
warrant, the League representative should also attempt to consult
with the weather bureau and with appropriate security personnel
of the League, club, stadium, and local authorities. If no representative
from the Commissioner’s office is working the game in a "control"
capacity, the referee will be in charge (see "Authority of
Referee" below).
3. In circumstances where safety is of immediate concern, the Commissioner’s-office
representative may, after consulting with the referee, authorize
a temporary suspension in play and, if warranted, removal of the
participants from the playing field. The representative should be
mindful of the safety of spectators, players, game officials, nonplayer
personnel in the bench areas, and other field-level personnel such
as photographers and cheerleaders.
4. If possible, the League-office representative should consult
with authorized representatives of the two participating clubs before
any decision involving cancellation, postponement, or termination
is made by the Commissioner or League President.
5. If the Commissioner or League President decides to cancel, postpone,
or terminate a game, his representative at the game or the game-day
duty officer will then determine the method(s) for announcing such
decision, e.g., by public-address announcement over referee’s
wireless microphone, by public-address announcement by home club,
or by communication to radio, television, and other news media.
Authority of Referee
1. If a referee determines that an emergency warrants immediate
removal of participants from the playing field for safety reasons,
he may do so on his own authority. If, however, circumstances allow
him the time, he must reach the highest ranking full-time League
office representative working at the game in a "control"
capacity or the game-day duty officer designated by the League (by
telephone, if that person is not in attendance) and discuss the
actual or potential emergency with such representative or duty officer.
That representative or duty officer then will make the final decision
on removal of participants from the field or obtain a decision from
the Commissioner or League President.
2. If a referee removes participants from the playing field under
No. 1 above, he may order them to their respective bench areas or
to their locker rooms, whichever is appropriate in the circumstances.
3. After appropriate consultation under No. 1 above, the referee
must advise the two participating head coaches of the nature of
the emergency and the action contemplated (if the decision has not
yet been reached) or of the final decision.
4. The referee must not, before a decision is reached, make an
announcement on his microphone concerning the possibility of a cancellation,
postponement, or termination unless instructed to do so by an appropriate
representative of the Commissioner’s office.
5. The referee must not discuss a forfeit with head coaches or
club personnel and must not use that term over the referee’s
microphone (see definition of forfeit under No. 1 of "Authority
of Commissioner’s Office" above).
6. The referee must not assess an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty
on the home team for actions of fans that cause or contribute to
an emergency.
7. The referee should be mindful of the safety of not only players
and officials, but also of the spectators and other nonparticipants.
8. If an emergency involves spectator interference (for example,
nonparticipants on the field or thrown objects), the referee immediately
should contact the appropriate club or League representative for
additional security assistance, including, if applicable, involvement
of the League’s security representative(s) assigned to the
game.
9. The referee may order the resumption of play when he deems conditions
safe for all concerned and, if circumstances warrant, after consultation
with appropriate representatives of the Commissioner’s office.
10. Under no circumstances is the referee authorized to cancel,
postpone, terminate, or declare forfeiture of a game unilaterally.
Procedures for Starting and Resuming Games
Subject to the points of authority listed above, League personnel
and referees will be guided by the following procedures for starting
and resuming games that are affected by emergencies.
1. If, because of an emergency, a regular-season or postseason
game is not started at its scheduled time and cannot be played at
any later time that same day, the game nevertheless must be played
on a subsequent date to be determined by the Commissioner.
2. If an emergency threatens to occur during the playing of a game
(for example, an incoming tropical storm), the starting time of
the game will not be moved to an earlier time unless there is clearly
sufficient time to make an orderly change.
3. All games that are suspended temporarily and resumed on the
same day, and all suspended games that are postponed to a later
date, will be resumed at the point of suspension. On suspension,
the referee will call timeout and make a record of the following:
team possessing the ball, direction in which its offense was headed,
position of the ball on the field, down, distance, period, time
remaining in the period, and any other pertinent information required
for an orderly and equitable resumption of play.
4. For regular-season postponements, the Commissioner will make
every effort to set the game for no later than two days after its
originally scheduled date and at the same site. If unable to schedule
at the same site, he will select an appropriate alternative site.
If it is impossible to schedule the game within two days after its
original date, the Commissioner will attempt to schedule it on the
Tuesday of the next calendar week. The Commissioner will keep in
mind the potential for competitive inequities if one or both of
the involved clubs has already been scheduled for a game close to
the Tuesday of that week (for example, a Thursday game).
5. For postseason postponements, the Commissioner will make every
effort to set the game as soon as possible after its originally
scheduled date and at the same site. If unable to schedule at the
same site, he will select an appropriate alternative site.
6. Whenever postponement is attributable to negligence by a club,
the negligent club is responsible for all home club costs and expenses,
including, subject to approval by the Commissioner, gate receipts
and television-contract income. [See Section 19.11 (C) of the NFL
Constitution and Bylaws.]
7. Each home club is strictly responsible for having the playing
surface of its stadium well maintained and suitable for NFL play.
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