Why Do Football Officials Throw Their Hats?

An official's hat can mark information the crew may need later in a play. Its most familiar use is recording that a receiver or kicking team player went out of bounds. The hat itself does not automatically mean a penalty.

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A yellow flag announces an observed foul. A hat can preserve an observation before the player does anything that makes that observation consequential.

The receiver who returns inbounds

Suppose a receiver steps out, returns and catches a forward pass. Officials need to know that he left the field as well as what happened after his return.

Under NFL Rule 8, Section 1, Article 8, an offensive receiver who goes out voluntarily or after being legally forced out, reestablishes inbounds and is first to touch a forward pass thrown from behind the line commits illegal touching. The penalty is loss of down at the previous spot. Touching the pass while still out instead makes it incomplete.

The receiver out of bounds rule has its own conditions. Getting two feet back inside does not, by itself, erase the earlier loss of eligibility to touch first. Illegal defensive contact is a separate issue if the defender's action was itself a foul.

Punt coverage creates another use

A gunner can also leave and return near the sideline. Restrictions on kicking team players going out of bounds depend on why they left, whether they returned and who subsequently touched the ball.

The hat helps the crew preserve that earlier fact while officials keep watching a moving kick, blocks and possible possession. The eventual ruling comes from the full sequence, not from the marker alone.

Hat, flag and bean bag

A bean bag commonly marks a relevant spot such as a fumble. A flag identifies a foul. A hat is a supplemental marker and can be used when another marker is unavailable, so its meaning is not identical on every play or at every level of football.

When a hat lands near the boundary, find the player who went out and follow his next action. Then listen for the referee's announcement. The hat tells you the crew is preserving information; the announcement tells you whether that information produced a penalty or another ruling.

Keep learning

Officials’ bean bags explains which important spots are marked without announcing a foul.

Punt gunner eligibility explains what must happen before a returning player can touch the kick.

Catch requirements explains why inbounds contact is only part of completing a pass.

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NFL rules reviewed October 10, 2026. Sources: Buccaneers explanation of officiating markers; 2026 NFL Rulebook (Rule 8, Section 1, Article 8; Rule 9, Section 2).