In gridiron football, replay review is a method of reviewing a play using cameras at various angles to determine the accuracy of the initial call of the officials. An instant replay can take place in the event of a close or otherwise controversial call, either at the request of a team's head coach (with limitations) or the officials themselves.
Replay reviews are utilized in some high school games, and also for many games at the college level and above. Before the 2019 season, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), which establishes the rules for most high school and youth organizations in the United States (though not for Texas high schools), did not allow replay reviews even when the equipment exists to enable the practice.2017 NFHS Football Rulebook, Rule 1, Article 1, Section 9: “The use of any replay or television monitoring equipment by the game officials in making any decision relating to the game is prohibited.” Effective in 2019, NFHS gave its member associations the option to allow replay review, but only in postseason games. In those leagues that utilize replay reviews, there are restrictions on what types of plays can be reviewed. In general, most penalty calls or lack thereof cannot be reviewed, nor can a play that is whistled dead by the officials before the play could come to its rightful end.
American and Canadian football leagues vary in their application and use of instant replay review.
By league
National Football League
The NFL first adopted a limited Instant Replay system in 1986.NFL History by Decade It remained in place through 1991. The current system was put into use in 1999, adding the opportunity to "challenge" on-field calls of plays. The current system mirrors a system used by the now defunct USFL in its final season, 1985. Each coach is allowed two opportunities per game to make a coach's challenge. Beginning in 2004, the rule was amended to award a third challenge if both of the original two challenges were successful. A subsequent amendment in 2024 revised the rule further, allowing a third challenge if at least one of the original two challenges is successful.
A challenge can be made on certain reviewable calls on plays that begin before the two-minute warning and only when a team has at least one timeout remaining in the half. Up until the 2005 season, coaches could signal a challenge via an electronic pager, now used only by the replay assistant.NFL News: Owners to vote on several major changes The coach now throws a red flag onto the field, indicating the challenge to the referees. This red flag was originally the "backup plan" if the pager were to fail, but over time proved to be prompter and more popular, as it showed the immediate and visual intent of the coach to ask for a review rather than a silent pager request without a visual indicator.
The referee has up to 90 seconds to watch the instant replay of the play and decide if the original call was correct. The referee must see "incontrovertible visual evidence" that the original call was incorrect for a call to be overturned. If the challenge fails, the original ruling stands, and the challenging team is charged with a timeout. If the challenge overrules the previous call, the call is reversed; should there have been an official score change, the score will be changed again, resulting in the original score and with no loss of a timeout.
Initially, the referee departed the field of play to a covered booth equipped with a CRT television monitor to consult the video replays. Over time, the equipment was upgraded, first to high-definition, then to touch screen monitors under the hood. Eventually the booth was abandoned in favor of portable Microsoft Surface tablets held by an assistant.
Because of the limited number of challenges, and the possible penalty of a lost timeout, coaches typically reserve their challenges for key plays. A questionable call may not be challenged once the next play is underway, so coaches may be forced to make a quick decision without the benefit of seeing a replay on television or on the stadium screen. If a questionable call is made in favor of the offense, then the offense will often line up and snap the ball quickly to prevent the opposing coach from challenging the call. Often players on the field will signal to the coach if they believe the play should be challenged.
For plays inside the two-minute warning of each half, all plays during overtime, scoring plays (since 2011), and turnovers (since 2012), reviews can take place only if the replay official, who sits in the press box and monitors the network broadcast of the game, determines that a play needs review; coaches may not challenge during these times. In those cases, the replay official will contact the referee by a specialized electronic pager with a vibrating alert. If a review takes place during that time while the clock is running, the clock will stop for the review, and then it will start running once the ball is set and ready for play. Starting with the 2010 season (and later in 2017), any review reversals with the clock running inside one minute (now inside the two-minute warning) will incur a 10-second runoff, which can be avoided if either team uses a timeout.
One concern about replay that was addressed some years ago was the situation where a coach sought a review of a non-challengeable call (such as being forced out of bounds, or in some cases to challenge a runner down by contact). Before the rule was clarified, a team lost the challenge and a time-out. The current rule does not penalize a team in such a case, provided the rule is not abused or taken advantage of.
The NFL replay system currently only covers the following situations: Scoring plays Pass complete/incomplete/intercepted Runner/receiver out of bounds Recovery of a loose ball in or out of bounds Touching of a forward pass, either by an ineligible receiver or a defensive player Quarterback pass or fumble Illegal forward pass Forward or backward pass Runner ruled not down by contact Forward progress in regard to a first down Touching of a kick Other plays involving placement of the football Whether a legal number of players is on the field at the time of the snap Ejections
If a play is overturned, the official is also responsible for making any related revisions to the game clock if applicable, especially in late, game-ending situations. For instance, if a player makes a reception and runs a long distance, several seconds may run off the game clock. If the play is challenged and the catch overturned, the game clock is reset to have stopped at the moment of incompletion, adding time back to the clock.
Note that the spot of the ball may be challenged in certain cases. In such cases, a decision to respot the football is not enough to win the challenge; only when the ball is respotted and the ruling on the field is reversed by remeasurement is the challenging team not charged a timeout.
Some unusual, and confusing sequences of events can occur during replay stoppages, and most have been addressed through rules clarifications. For instance, if a team commits a delay of game penalty (before the snap), the opposing team still has the opportunity to challenge, provided it is done before the ensuing snap. Also, inside the two-minute warning, if a team calls a timeout in the normal course of play, but the replay official calls for a challenge of that play, the initial timeout is ignored and restored in favor of the replay stoppage.
On occasion, challenges can sometimes backfire on teams. During a 2017 rivalry game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, Bears head coach John Fox challenged a call that had ruled Bears running back Benny Cunningham down at the Packers two-yard line despite Cunningham extending his arm out and touching the pylon, which under NFL rules is a touchdown. While the Bears won the challenge, the referees actually ruled that Cunningham lost control of the football before being down and fumbled the ball into and out of the end zone, which by NFL rules resulted in a touchback and a turnover to the Packers. Although the Packers punted on the ensuing drive, it turned out to be a key play in what was a 23–16 Packers win. Since the Bears did get the play overturned (albeit with unintended results), they weren't charged a timeout, giving the Bears a Pyrrhic victory.
Beginning in 2014, all replays reviews are overseen centrally at the league's headquarters in New York. Consultants at "Art McNally GameDay Central" monitor all games across the league and queue up the best replay angles and directly assist the referee in making the decision. The move streamlines the process and assures that reviews are consistent across the league. It was loosely inspired by a similar setup employed by the NHL. It allows input from multiple experts, to ensure that rules are enforced properly and that no rules are accidentally overlooked. Previously, the on-site game referee was the sole arbiter of the review (with input only from the replay official). The new system eases the burden on the game referee, allowing the crew assembled in New York to do most of the video examination in an isolated, controlled environment, allowing the referee to focus on the on-site mechanics of the process.Inside the NFL’s Replay Command Center As technology has improved, starting in 2022 the NFL now has what it calls "expedited review" where if either the replay official or New York sees an obvious error, they are allowed to communicate to the referee through his headset to correct the error.
History The current replay system replaced a previous system used from 1986 through 1991, when a procedure similar to that of what college football uses today was used. In 1987 commissioner Pete Rozelle saved the system for another season; in 1988 Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney saved it. Before 1986, and from 1992 to 1998, no replay system was used. While there is occasional controversy over the appropriateness of overturned calls, the system is generally accepted as an effective and necessary way to ensure a fair game.
By consensus, the tipping point for replay being fully and permanently accepted by NFL owners came late in the 1998 season. The Seattle Seahawks were leading the New York Jets with time running out and the Jets facing a 4th-and-goal situation, when quarterback Vinny Testaverde evaded a pass rush and ran towards the end zone before diving near the goal line. The referee near the play called it a touchdown, giving the Jets a critical 32–31 win. However, replays showed very clearly that while Testaverde's helmet had crossed the goal line, the football never came close to breaking the plane of the goal line as required by the rules. If Seattle had won this game and the rest of their schedule played out as it ended up doing, they would have earned a wild card spot, but instead they missed the playoffs and coach Dennis Erickson and his entire staff were fired after the season. Owners could no longer claim that the inability to address such a massive error was tenable, and brought replay back for the 1999 season. Replay has remained (with numerous adjustments) part of the NFL since then.