The blitz is fierce and well-timed, slamming the quarterback to the ground. As the crowd roars and defenders rise to celebrate, the fallen passer rolls onto his back and looks up at the first person he sees standing over him: a referee.

What does the quarterback say?

“Lying there, their reaction sometimes would be, ‘Man, there’s no way I could feel this terrible after a legal hit,’” said Gene Steratore, a longtime NFL referee who retired in June.

Postponing a rules debate, Steratore would instead ask: “Are you all right?”

The exchange is just one example of the constant, if hidden, interplay between players and officials, a largely overlooked dialogue reserved for the few permitted to step onto an NFL field.

“What happens out there is two human beings talking like any other two people would,” said Steratore, now a sports rules analyst for CBS. “Why should the normal things in life stop just because it’s the middle of an NFL game?”

Indeed, players and officials say an NFL game is a veritable gabfest, most of the chatter having nothing to do with penalties called or not called — or with football at all.

“A ref will yell, ‘Willie, watch it, don’t push off there,’” Ravens wide receiver Willie Snead IV said, referring to a shove of a defender that might be offensive pass interference.

“He’ll say, ‘I don’t want to have to get you for that next time. Go easy.’ I appreciate the warning.”

Snead also makes a point of introducing himself to each official before a game and to memorize the names of those he does not know.

“That way I never say, ‘Hey, ref,’ which is disrespectful,” Snead said. “I mean, they know my name, right?”

Several players said Snead’s experience is typical: Game officials are continually advising them how to avoid penalties — telling defensive backs to stop grabbing at receivers, cautioning the offensive linemen to get closer to the line of scrimmage to avoid an illegal-formation penalty, even reminding the kickers not to move before the snap.

“It’s called preventative officiating,” said Dean Blandino, a Fox Sports rules analyst who until last year oversaw officiating for the NFL. “The last thing anyone wants is a flag every other play. If you communicate, you can maintain control and let the players play, too.”

The familiarity between the officials and the players does not prevent a certain amount of arguing when a penalty flag flutters to the ground — or when one does not. But in most cases, the dispute does not last long. Football is not baseball; there is a clock running.

Steratore, though, pointed out that officials have to be mindful of when and how to interact: The moment after a punishing, if legal, sack was never a time for levity or a quarrel.

“Quarterbacks are human; it hurts,” he said. “But after they got up and I knew they were OK, I might sneak it in real quick that it was a legal hit.

“Some agreed and some definitely did not. But I would always tell every quarterback that I was there to protect them. I think they heard that.”

A month after he retired, Steratore discovered that the communication between player and official can outlast the games. He walked to his mailbox and found a handwritten letter from Peyton Manning.

“He told me how much he enjoyed the games I was also in,” Steratore said. “That’s when you realize what a great experience we all share.”