Originally Posted by RB

flinching on the line means a false start which is a penalty in football. The team teaches their linemen to stay still as long as possible on their line if the other team jumps early, as a matter of overemphasizing their "innocence" in not committing a penalty.

In layman's terms:

I'm on offense, you're on defense. We both line up. You're not aloud to pass the line of scrimmage until the football is snapped. If you do, its call offsides. However, if I move before the ball is snapped, its called a false start. By staying still as long as possible, I'm showing that I'm not the one that committed the penalty.

Originally Posted by NOPD

dude should have known something was up when everybody else was scrambling, idiot. even if he got the calls mixed up.