Quote:
Originally posted by RonRod
Is it illegal for the tight-end, off the whistle, to lung head first at the defensive-end and hit/block him below the knees?
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I'm not exactly sure what "off the whistle means," but I'll assume you mean immediately after the snap. For NF rules, if both players are on their LOS and in the Free Blocking Zone (FBZ) at the snap and the contact occurs in the FBZ, then the block below the waist is legal. Generally the TE is in the FBZ at the snap unless the offense is using larger than average splits between their O-linemen.
And in case you don't know, the FBZ is a retangular area extending laterally 4 yards either side of the spot of the snap and 3 yards behind each line of scrimmage. The zone disintegrates when the ball leaves the zone (i.e. when the ball leaves the 8 x 6 zone, players can no longer legally block in the back, block below the waist, or clip); this last part is especially important, because if the team is in shot-gun formation, the ball will only be in the zone for a split second after the snap.