Q: Hi Roger. Monday Mailbag is a great addition. My friend's son plays for St. Thomas. Last weekend they had a player (a tight end) who was penalized for wearing No. 95. He was forced to leave the game and change his jersey. My questions: What numbers must a player wear to play tight end? Is there such a thing as a tackle eligible in high school? And what's the rule on changing a jersey during a game? Could a player wear two different numbers and switch between two positions during the game? Thanks. Rich -- York, Maine.

Note: This question was forwarded to Steve Hall, who is a member of the New Hampshire Football Officials' Association Board of Directors. Hall has been the NHFOA rules interpreter since 2001, and is also the New Hampshire representative on the National Federation of High Schools rules committee. Hall's answer appears below:

A: There are no specific number requirements for a tight end. However, there are numbering requirements for players on the line of scrimmage and players who are eligible receivers.  

Unless a team is in scrimmage-kick formation (i.e., punt or field goal formation), they are required to have at least five players on the line of scrimmage numbered from 50 to 79.  

To be an eligible receiver, a player must be numbered from 1 to 49 or 80 to 99. Therefore, a tight end can legally wear number 95. In fact, any player on the line of scrimmage can wear any number, as long as at least five of the seven players on the line of scrimmage are numbered 50 to 79. However, in order to be eligible to catch a forward pass or go downfield prior to a forward pass being thrown, a player must be on the end of his line of scrimmage (i.e., either a tight end or a split end) or in the backfield, and he must be numbered 1 to 49 or 80 to 99.

I don't know why a player at tight end would be asked to leave the game and change numbers. If the team did not have enough players on the line numbered 50 to 79, it would be a foul at the snap for illegal numbering (penalty is 5 yards from the previous spot and the down is replayed). In that situation, an official would likely inform the coach of the reason for the foul, but would not require a player to leave the game, since that's the coach's responsibility. It's possible that the information conveyed to your reader is incorrect or missing something, since I don't think an official would require a player to leave the game based solely on the number he was wearing.

Regarding the "tackle eligible" question, the rules don't specify eligibility by position. Rather, to be eligible, the "tackle" would have to be on the end of his line of scrimmage and be numbered 1 to 49 or 80 to 99, as discussed above. There is also no rule prohibiting a player from changing numbers during the game and playing two different positions. A player could wear an eligible number and be an eligible receiver for one down, then switch jerseys to an ineligible number and be an interior lineman for another down.

Q: Trinity or Laconia on Friday night? Dan -- Franklin.

Trinity was my preseason pick to win it all in Division IV, but if there's a team out there who can beat the Pioneers it's Laconia. My prediction on this game will appear in Friday's The State of Football column.

Questions for Monday Mailbag can be submitted to rbrown@nhfootballreport.com. Questions may be edited for clarity.