Refusal to abide by the Referee's opinion as to length of game; refusal to play within two minutes after order by Referee; refusal to allow game to proceed.

The scoring of a touchdown, goal from touchdown, and goal from field, whether by drop or placement kick is fairly understood, but the scoring of a safety has probably puzzled more onlookers than any other play in the game. The average spectator is inclined to believe that there is only one way of scoring a safety, which, of course, counts against the team making it, but in reality there is more than one way, and so important is the rule governing the play that I give it in full, suggesting that it be carefully examined. Here it is:

"A safety is made when the ball in possession of a player guarding his own goal is declared dead by the Referee, any part of it being on, above or behind the goal line, provided the impetus which caused it to pass from outside the goal line to or behind the goal line was given by the side defending the goal. Such impetus could come from:

"A kick, pass, snapback or fumble by one of the player's own side.

"A kick which bounded back from an opponent or from one of the kicker's own side, who, when struck, was behind his goal line.

"In case a player carrying the ball is forced back, provided the ball was not declared dead by the Referee before the goal line was reached or crossed.

"A safety is made when a player of the side in possession of the ball makes a forward pass which becomes incompleted behind his goal line or commits a foul which would give the ball to the opponents behind the offender's goal line.

"A safety is made when the ball, kicked by a man behind his goal line crosses the extended portion of either sideline."

Quite a little more to it than would have been suspected by one who had not kept up with the changes in the rules.

Now when a touchback is made the crowd often does not understand why it was not a safety, apparently having reached the conclusion that as soon as a man of the defending side was down with the ball behind his own goal line he had made a safety. The fundamental difference is the impetus which sent the ball across the line. But there is one important instance in which a touchback is made even when the impetus that sent the ball across the goal line came from a player of the defending side. The exception should be noted carefully, since the situation has frequently arisen only to puzzle the entire crowd and call down condemnation on the head of the devoted Referee. I give in full the two paragraphs of the rule covering the ease:

"It is a touchback when a player on defense permits a ball, kicked by an opponent, to strike his person and then roll across the goal line and he or any player of his side then falls on it back of the line." (This always looks like a safety to the crowd.)

"It is not a touchback if such player juggles the ball so that he. in any way forces it over the line and he or any player of his side then falls on it."

Just one other point that affects the kicking game and causes much misunderstanding among spectators, and I shall leave the dry rules to the tender mercies of the officials. When a player going down the field under a ball kicked by his own side - he is what is known technically as offside - is touched by the ball before it touches an opponent, the ball goes to the opponents on the spot where the foul occurred; with one exception - when the offending player is touched by the ball before it touches an opponent inside opponent's 10-yard line it is a touchback for the defenders of the goal.

Now for certain fundamentals that must be remembered if the spectator would follow the play intelligently:

When a team is on the offensive and takes up the running game there are eight men who are permitted by rule to carry the ball on the direct pass from the center. The three exceptions are, the center and the two guards. But while the center cannot run with the ball at all, the guards may run with it after it has passed through the hands of some player, presumably the quarterback, other than the center. Further it is unlikely that a tackle or end will run with the ball on the direct pass, although it can be done.

When the offensive team is to make a forward pass the rules require that the passer must be five yards behind the line of scrimmage when the ball is thrown. The passer may take up the legal position before the ball is snapped, in which case, while any play may be made, the spectator would do well to be on the lookout for the pass; or, the passer may reach the legal position by running back five yards after receiving the ball from the center, in which case the spectator will have ample warning that a forward pass is to be made.

The onlooker must remember that there are only six men eligible to receive the pass - strictly speaking only five, since the man who makes the throw must be counted out - and that these men are, under the rules, the two playing on the ends of the line when the ball is snapped, and any man at least one yard behind that line. Since there must be seven men on the line it follows that the remaining eligiblee, after the ends are considered, must be the backs. But it often happens that there is some very tall and powerful man in the scrimmage line who is a good receiver of the forward pass. If the spectator finds such a man on one end of the line after a shift has been made he should be on the lookout for a forward pasa to the newcomer.

When there is no wind to speak of and a team is in its own territory the spectator may look for kicking as early as the first or second down, while when the team is in its opponent's territory he may expect the full use of the running and passing games. With these general principles in mind and some attention paid to the kinks in the rules explained above, the spectator should be well enough equipped to follow the game with profit and a desire to become even better acquainted with its finer points.