I need an officials ruliing

I have a question for all you officials out there.

Is it possible to decline a dead ball penalty (for example illegal procedure motion prior to the snap by the offensive team)?

Good question.....but I am not sure why you would want to since the play would be replayed

I guess you could if you really wanted to but I can't think of any scenario that it would be beneficial since it would be a dead ball and blown dead so there would be no play. You would just be giving away a free 5 yards.

Only way I see it being beneficial is so that the other team would have more angle on their field goal because it was so close.

Punting, if some team takes dealy so they have more room to punt in order not to punt it into the endzone.

I always thought a team had the option to accept or decline any penalty. Any exceptions??

You can decline the distance penalty for any foul so the answer to the question is yes you can decline a dead ball foul however that does not change the down since the play did not actually start. Lets say that you have a fourth and 10 and the offense has a false start. You can decline the yardage. The only time that I have seen this is when a team is punting and they want a little more room to put a team deep in their own territory.

VHSLhelper there is only one situation that I can think of off hand that would have a penalty automatically declined and that is when a team intercepts or recovers a fumble for a TD. If the team that fumbles or throws the interception fouls before the turnover the foul is automatically declined because the result of the play is a Touchdown.

I ask this question because last night at the Burton-Honaker game, on third down, prior to the ball being snapped, Honaker's wide receiver moved and the head linesman flagged the play. During the ongoing play, Honaker commits a turnover and Burton scores on the play. I have always thought that a procedure call was a dead ball penalty and you have no choice but to accept it.

Thanks all for the answer.

Depends on whether it was false start or illegal motion/ formation. If it was false start the play is blown dead. Illegal motion or illegal formation the play is not blown dead and you would have the option to take the result of the play or the penalty. This confuses alot of people because the referee gives the same signal for illegal formation and false start(fists rolling over each other)

Plus, since the play did continue, it had to have been a live ball penalty, or the play would have been stopped.

Only the five interior lineman can't move. All others can move and if they get reset for one second, then the play goes on without a penalty. If they move and don't get reset, it is a live ball foul. If they move into the neutral zone, then it's a dead ball foul. Lot's of fans and coaches don't know that rule.

I think it's also a dead ball foul if they simulate the start of a play without moving into the neutral zone?

If they cause the defense to move.