re: Any Referees? Question about "Forward Progress"

You have to remember that calls go back many years and were based on the common practice at that time.

The official clearly had his right arm up prior to the fumble. The play is dead not upon the whistle, but when the official determines it is dead. This goes back to when officials wore the whistles on a lanyard around their necks and sometimes lost their whistle during a play or could not use it in a timely manner.

The arm up signaled the play dead. On the punt return, the butt on the ground was the spot.