LITTLE ROCK — The noted French philosopher Pierre Gassendi once said that “time always flows equal and does not undergo any changes,” which was a relatively controversial position to take in the 17th century and one that apparently still prompts debate today. After all, the noted NFC East philosopher Tom Coughlin would surely disagree.
The coach and several of his New York Giants disciples have made the point over the last week that time actually might stretch a little longer in Dallas than elsewhere on Earth — particularly when the Cowboys have the ball and are trying to score a winning touchdown.
Specifically, Coughlin theorized that time stopped with the scoreboard clock “stuck on one” second last Sunday, allowing the Cowboys to run yet another play. His voluble contemporary Rex Ryan has supported this theory of sudden (and selective) suspension, noting that it also seems to occur on late Sunday afternoons in New England.
These instances are the latest examples of players, coaches or fans pondering the not-so-metaphysical issue of time in sports. But in the NFL, at least, there is little evidence to support the shopworn conspiracy theory of the crooked clock operator.
“We are employees of the league, not the teams,” Jim Huetter, the play-clock operator for Buffalo Bills games, said in a telephone interview. “The league pays us, takes taxes out, all of that. We have drug tests, background checks, the whole thing. We work with the officials on the field — we’re part of the officiating crew, just like the chain gang.”
Huetter added, “There aren’t just fans sitting up there running the clock.”
Of course, that is the image that many outsiders, and even some players and coaches, surely have. When Dallas quarterback Tony Romo took a snap with six seconds remaining last Sunday, dropped back and threw a deep incompletion, it was difficult for the Giants not to look up at the clock, see one second left and envision the clock operator as some guy wearing a Cowboys hat and flipping a switch.
In reality, the job is more complex. All clock operators — both game clock and play clock — are former officials, generally at the college level, according to an NFL spokesman. The operators are trained by NFL regional supervisors and are typically selected to work at sites that are geographically convenient during the regular season, though in the playoffs, the league will send top-rated operators to out-of-town games. Every July, the operators have a conference call in which rule changes related to timing are discussed and reviewed.
Huetter, who has been a playclock operator for 12 years and is also a former NBA referee, said the game-day routine was standard: operators must arrive several hours before the game, and at exactly 1 hour, 50 minutes before kickoff, the operators have a meeting with the on-field officials to review their procedures. The line judge, who is responsible for monitoring the game time, talks directly with the game-clock operator; the back judge, who watches the play clock, goes over issues with the play-clock operator.
Much of the review is perfunctory, but there are numerous nuances to NFL timing that the average fan would not notice. As one example, Huetter brought up a play in which a team is attempting a field goal with six seconds remaining in the game and has the kick blocked. The ball rolls around on the field for several seconds and, to most fans, it would seem obvious that the game should be over.
“Not true,” Huetter said. “There is a rule that the longest a field-goal attempt can take without possession is five seconds. So we would stop the clock with one second left and most fans would probably think we were crazy.”
Two years ago, the league experimented with technology that would allow the on-field officials to also control the clock through devices clipped to their belts that are also linked to the official’s whistle. This type of system is in use in the NBA but did not advance beyond the trial phase with the NFL because — unlike in basketball — the whistle is not always the first indication that the clock should be stopped.
In fact, league rules state that clock operators must look for the on-field official’s signals as their cue to stop the clock. The exact moment when the ball hits the ground (on an incomplete pass) or a player’s foot touches out of bounds is essentially irrelevant to the clock operator — he must be focused entirely on the official. Even if the operator sees a coach signaling a timeout, he cannot do anything until an on-field official recognizes it; only when the official waves his hands should the clock be stopped.
“That’s another thing people don’t realize — we are tied to the guys on the field,” Huetter said. “We watch the game differently than fans. We have to be locked in on our areas so that we see the signals right when they are given.
“We’re there to do a job, just like the officials, and if we do it right, then no one notices us. We have our procedures and we follow them. That’s all there is to it.”
Put another way: Time waits for no man. Not even a Dallas Cowboy.
Sports, Pages 26 on 11/04/2012