Reckless Abandon*
Guest
No good referee is going to "caution the other team" based on what a player tells him for things like this. The referee is not being fair if he does that. If I'm the coach of a team being "cautioned" by a referee simply because the other team's captain told him something, I'm not happy about it.
The only time I've ever talked to a coach about something the other team has told me was regarding alleged racial slurs. It wasn't a warning because none of us officials heard anything, but rather a piece of advice to the coach that he should make sure his players are keeping their mouths shut. I did that favour for the captain who raised the issue only after making him a deal that in order to keep it fair, that he tell his players the same thing I would tell the other bench about keeping their mouths shut.
Again, referees never see everything. The ONLY answer I can give a player who tells me that something happened to him is, "if it happens again and I see it, I'll call it". Nothing more can be said or done. I can't tell a player that I will watch for something or keep an eye on a certain player because doing that takes my attention away from the rest of the game. I'm not out there to look for penalties to call, and I'm not out there to avoid calling them either. My job as a referee is to react to what I see happen.
Ok. Do that. If I can confirm with my linesmen that you didn't get hit in the throat, guess who is getting the penalty? If I can't confirm that with my linesmen, and you're out there playing your next shift, guess who is likely not getting a call for the rest of the game?
So you are going to not call a potential stick to the throat. If your lineman wasn't sure what would you do? You look like a fool now for blowing the play dead and not calling anything.