Did a ball boy call timeout for Chiefs during the Texans game?
The Chiefs already face criticism for alleged referee favoritism, and a ball boy calling timeouts during the Texans game only fuels the accusations.
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Ball boy calls time out at Chiefs game (Image via IMAGO/X)
Does a ball boy have the authority to call a timeout? Google was bombarded with the same question after the same occurred when the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Houston Texans in the early Saturday kickoff.
After Travis Kelce caught his 86th pass of the season, the Chiefs lined up to continue the drive on first and ten while trailing by three points. The referee called out a timeout and chalked off one of the three timeouts allowed per team.
However, there was something odd about the TO. A few eagle-eyed fans on social media pointed out that a ball boy close to the sideline referee tugged on his shirt to call for a timeout.
Isn’t the head coach the only one allowed to call timeout on the sidelines? I guess chiefs ball boys will help when Andy Reid can’t walk 15 yards. pic.twitter.com/YMLdr4Yu4p
— James Jensen (@jpjensen18) December 21, 2024
The drive continued for the Chiefs, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes handed the ball to Kareem Hunt to score a rushing touchdown. The Chiefs took the lead and stayed there until the final whistle.
Did the ball boy really call a timeout for the Chiefs?
For those who are scratching their heads about whether a ball boy can even call a timeout? The answer is they cannot. Only the head coach of the team has the power to call a timeout, so in this case, only Andy Reid could have called it.
NFL’s game rules section 4 has 5 parts that reveal who, when, and how a timeout can be called during an official game.
The referee shall suspend play while the ball is dead and declare a charged team timeout upon the request for a timeout by the head coach or any player (not a substitute) to any official. If an assistant coach signals for a timeout and it is inadvertently granted, the timeout will stand.
Section 5, Article 1, titled “Charged Team Timeouts,” outlines who can call a timeout
So, anyone else other than the head coach can’t call a timeout. Now, as for a ball boy calling for one, that is something never heard of. There’s no clarification whether he even called it or he attracted the officials’ attention to Coach Reid, who called a timeout. There has not been any official announcement regarding the matter as of yet.
This isn’t the first occasion the Chiefs have found themselves in such a predicament. In week one, the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, was caught on camera telling the referee to call a timeout. Later, the official notification said it was coach Reid who called it; Spagnuolo was only making it known to the referee next to him.
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Ishan Misra
(2963 Articles Published)