Quote:
Originally posted by BktBallRef
Gentlemen, the 5 yard facemask foul has become a scapegoat for us as officials.
I am so tired of seeing officials who do not have the gonads to make the personal foul call when the mask is grabbed and the runner's head is turned or twisted. That's a 15 yard foul. It was not the intent of the rule to allow a 5 yard foul to be called in that situation. The intent was to have the incidental facemask called, as officials were hesitant to throw a 15 yarder, for simply inadvertantly grabbing the mask. Instead, officials are using the 5 yarder as a crutch for the 15 yarder, to penalize the offending team but "too harshly," even though the head is being twisted.
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In our last association meeting of the season, our president chided us for exactly the opposite. He told us that we were calling too many of the 15 yard fouls when we should be calling the 5 yard penalties. He prepared a 10 minute Powerpoint presentation on facemask violations.