Unsportsmanlike Conduct on Butler

[GhostOfPelluer]

My problem isn't with the rule being enforced so much as the idiotic 15-yard penalty that comes with it. To be straight, if you try to cheat and play with 12 guys it's a 5-yard penalty. If you make a mistake and send an extra guy in and he comes out before playing a snap, it's a 15-yard penalty.

That seems logical.

If a player goes in and realizes they shouldn't be there, it's better to just stay on the field and take the 5-yard penalty.

 

[blur2122]

The weirdest call I've seen in a long time. The best I can understand it is that...

• Butler should have just stayed on the field. If he was on the field for the play it would have only been an illegal substitution/too many men 5 yard penalty. For some reason, trying to get off the field & do the right thing made it even worse.
• The refs still had the option as to how to assess the penalty. Rule 5, Section 2, Article 5 - "If the player approaches the huddle and communicates with a teammate, he is required to participate in at least one play before being withdrawn. Violations of this rule may be penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct." The refs chose the harshest possible interpretation. (Also, it's debatable whether or not Butler communicated with a teammate).
• If the 1984 date is correct, then over 800,000 plays have been run since this penalty was last called. So either no player in any of those 800,000 plays mistakenly ran on the field and ran back, or something a little unusual was going on. I guess we can draw our own conclusions.

 

[Doomsay]

I do hope Jerry pushes this and gets an official explanation.

I believe the answer would be: "your $750 million countersuit against the league related to profit sharing violations in the Nike Pepsi and stadium deals"

 

[Nexx]

I agree this was a bogus penalty but I chalk it up to JG not having the team prepared. You can't have these kind of gaffes 19 weeks into the season.

I agree 100%, I didn't notice Green Bay committing bone headed, one after the other like our Boys did.

 

[blur2122]

I agree 100%, I didn't notice Green Bay committing bone headed, one after the other like our Boys did.

 

[Zordon]

Well in fairness, did the guy who ran out of the huddle, did he run into the huddle from the sidelines and then run out? That seems to be the issue here. It's still a horrible call but I am not sure that video is the same as what Butler did.

Yeah that was a bad example to use. Ripkowski ran the ball on the previous play. He didn't come from the sidelines.

 

[nathanlt]

I'm actually glad to know that. It's still a bizarre rule.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

My problem isn't with the rule being enforced so much as the idiotic 15-yard penalty that comes with it. To be straight, if you try to cheat and play with 12 guys it's a 5-yard penalty. If you make a mistake and send an extra guy in and he comes out before playing a snap, it's a 15-yard penalty.

That seems logical.

If a player goes in and realizes they shouldn't be there, it's better to just stay on the field and take the 5-yard penalty.

yeah pretty stupid difference

just stay in huddle

 

[CowboyStar88]

The weirdest call I've seen in a long time. The best I can understand it is that...

• Butler should have just stayed on the field. If he was on the field for the play it would have only been an illegal substitution/too many men 5 yard penalty. For some reason, trying to get off the field & do the right thing made it even worse.
• The refs still had the option as to how to assess the penalty. Rule 5, Section 2, Article 5 - "If the player approaches the huddle and communicates with a teammate, he is required to participate in at least one play before being withdrawn. Violations of this rule may be penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct." The refs chose the harshest possible interpretation. (Also, it's debatable whether or not Butler communicated with a teammate).
• If the 1984 date is correct, then over 800,000 plays have been run since this penalty was last called. So either no player in any of those 800,000 plays mistakenly ran on the field and ran back, or something a little unusual was going on. I guess we can draw our own conclusions.

We know what it is... They had determined before the game that they were going to call this penalty. It was predetermined and there isn't a single explanation that will change my mind. I was 4 years old the last time it was called... 4! There is not a chance this was just a "rule violations" or "they made the right call". BS! Even if you watch the play 1000 times you could not say he talked to anyone in the whatever kind of "huddle" that was.

I am so over the NFL it is coming to a point where it is becoming harder to watch. The refs are becoming too much of a focal point of the game. They're also becoming factors in changing the outcome of games way too much. Things need to change.

 

[blur2122]

Yeah that was a bad example to use. Ripkowski ran the ball on the previous play. He didn't come from the sidelines.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[dallasfan4lizife]

You know it's not that simple.
The difference is that both teams broke rules...but only 1 team got calls go against them at critical times.

If this rule isn't new while has it not been called since 1984?
Why didn't the ref throw the flag before the ball was snapped?
Why wait until the next play is over, when the guy you are flagging isn't even on the field anymore and the play is over? An unsportsmanlike call can be thrown in dead ball situations.

Where are people getting the 1984?

Haven't seen that referenced in any article.

 

[dallasfan4lizife]

The weirdest call I've seen in a long time. The best I can understand it is that...

• Butler should have just stayed on the field. If he was on the field for the play it would have only been an illegal substitution/too many men 5 yard penalty. For some reason, trying to get off the field & do the right thing made it even worse.
• The refs still had the option as to how to assess the penalty. Rule 5, Section 2, Article 5 - "If the player approaches the huddle and communicates with a teammate, he is required to participate in at least one play before being withdrawn. Violations of this rule may be penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct." The refs chose the harshest possible interpretation. (Also, it's debatable whether or not Butler communicated with a teammate).
• If the 1984 date is correct, then over 800,000 plays have been run since this penalty was last called. So either no player in any of those 800,000 plays mistakenly ran on the field and ran back, or something a little unusual was going on. I guess we can draw our own conclusions.

Where is the 1984 date coming from
???
everybody keeps saying this without backing it up with a link, or something substantial.

 

[Tenkamenin]

Where is the 1984 date coming from
???
everybody keeps saying this without backing it up with a link, or something substantial.

 

[cajuncocoa]

No, the refs called the game as they saw fit. The Cowboys couldn't get over their own lapses in judgment/playcalling to win. It is pretty simple. The rules are available for everyone to view before the season starts. Butler broke a rule, it was called, and we got penalized. Nothing new.

You're seeing things a lot differently than most people are. Even people who aren't Cowboy fans at all are seeing this much differently than you are.

1. There was no huddle
2. Butler didn't communicate with anyone

Therefore, what rule did he break?

The Cowboys made a damn good comeback and almost won that game, so all the negativity about how poorly they played needs to get thrown out of this thread. A lot of momentum was killed by the penalty this thread calls into question. Instead of a chance to take the lead in the first quarter, they get a 15-yard penalty that kills the drive. And the penalty was BS on steroids.

Two playoff games against the Packers in 3 years, and in both of them, we're left discussing a situation that should have gone in our favor but didn't. And you wonder why Cowboy fans see a conspiracy against us. Heck, I live in New Orleans...after the Dez debacle in 2015 even Saints fans were starting to see it.

 

[superonyx]

Where are people getting the 1984?

Haven't seen that referenced in any article.

What have you seen?
Which date do you have?

 

[dallasfan4lizife]

What have you seen?
Which date do you have?

I don't have a date. I've never seen the penalty in my life though and I'm very familiar with the rule book.

I want to cite a source so I can show someone at work. They claim they've seen that penalty before, and it's obvious to the refs. HA ok.

 

[waldoputty]

Watch the games next week and concentrate on that specific penalty. Anyone want to bet you'll see it happening and it won't be called? Even if this BS is actually a penalty, 15 yards is ridiculous.....

No interest in the NFL if Cowboys are not playing

 

[TheHerd]

For those who say it was an example of Dallas' just not following the rules, you're trolling. Hasn't been called since 1984, as many have pointed out. Furthermore, it wasn't enforced evenly in the game. If you've DVR'd it, check the 1st quarter with 4:41 left on the clock.. The Packers have a nice, tight huddle, and one of their players sprints out of the huddle, never to be a part of the play. But he didn't have a star on his helmet, so it wasn't called.

Neither team should have been called for that penalty in the game, that rule should be banished, or enforced with common sense. Bizarre procedural rules being enforced that way are a deliberate attempt to prevent the Cowboys from developing an early rhythm. The only evidence needed is referees never calling a more obvious, textbook violation against Green Bay about a minute later..

Bit he didn't talk to anyone, so he's ok. Yah, there's no bias here.

 

[TheHerd]

• If the 1984 date is correct, then over 800,000 plays have been run since this penalty was last called. So either no player in any of those 800,000 plays mistakenly ran on the field and ran back, or something a little unusual was going on. I guess we can draw our own conclusions.

The same penalty happened in this game by GB, only more obvious. It was an actual huddle, and the player who ran off and didn't participate in a play was in the huddle for quite a while, certainly long enough to communicate.

 

[TheCount]

If a player goes in and realizes they shouldn't be there, it's better to just stay on the field and take the 5-yard penalty.

Not if you know a ref isn't going to call a penalty that hasn't been called since Ronald Reagan was in office.

It just so happens that the refs decided to show boat by breaking out an arcane rule.