Ref Attack

""Oh my God, they killed Kenny!""

- Brickhead Mulligan

is one of the Dirty Tricks the players can use in Mutant Football League.

Teams
All teams can use this Dirty Trick.

Abilities
The team which called for the immediately jumps offside and targets the referee to kill him. Similar to QB Sack Attack, targeting the referee instead of the opposing quarterback. The opponent controls the referee when the Dirty Trick is revealed.

Either team may use this Dirty trick at any time an unlimited number of times, either through their playbook or for an audible.

As a tactic, is best used immediately after the first sign shows the opponent has bribed the referee (such as a nonsense penalty or an uncalled obvious penalty).

Counterplay
The referee can elude death a little longer by running out of bounds, similar to QB sack attack counterplay. The best chance to pull this off is when the opponent calls a audible rather than ordering it from the playbook.

If called from the playbook, the referee has effectively no chance of survival, though can still knock over and hurt players, similar to a late-hit window.

Penalties

 * If the referee died: 15 yards for unnecessary refslaughter.
 * If the referee escaped: 10 yards for attempted homicide.

Manual
Description from the Official Game Manual:

When it’s clear a ref is bribed there can only be one outcome – he has to be eliminated, and that’s where the Ref Attack Dirty Trick comes into play. When a Ref Attack play is called, the team will jump offside prior to the snap and attack the bribed ref.

When a ref dies, the bribe dies with him and a new referee will come out onto the field and take his place. When a team attacks the ref whether they kill him or not, they will receive a penalty.

The player on the opposing team can take control of the ref and try to escape by running him out of bounds.