Quote:
Originally posted by BktBallRef
Do you have it available? Would love to see it.
The 5 yard penalty should be called when the mask is grabbed as incidental contact. Rarely do I see this. Usually it's "grasping and twisting, turning or pulling the face mask." Most players will pull it if they grab it. That's 15 yards, straight from the book.
The case book has great illustrations.
9.4.2 SITUATION F: With second down and five yards to go from B's 30 yard line, A1 throws a pass to eligible A2. Following the reception, A2 inadvertently grasps B1's face mask/helmet opening at B's 15 yard line as B1 attempts to tackle A2 who scores a touchdown.
RULING: In (a), if B accepts the penalty for the inadvertent grasping of the face mask/helmet opening by A2, the score is nullified. Following the penalty enforcement, it will be A's ball first and 10 at B's 20 yard line.
9.4.2 SITUATION G: A1 is tackled by B1 who: (a) grasps A1's face mask/helmet opening momentarily and lets go; (b) has his hand brush across A1's face mask; (c) pulls A1 to the ground by grasping A1's face mask/helmet opening.
RULING: There is no penalty in (b). There is a five-yard penalty in (a) and a 15-yard penalty in (c).
9.4.2 SITUATION H: As B1 attempts to tackle A1 he: (a) grasps A1's face mask/helmet opening which turns the head of A1; or (b) grasps A1's face mask/helmet opening and immediately releases it without twisting, turning, or pulling.
RULING: It is a personal foul in (a) that results in a 15-yard penalty from the end of the run. In (b) B will be assessed a 5-yard penalty from the end of the run because of the incidental face mask.
9.4.2 SITUATION I: As B5 attempts to tackle A6, he has his hand on the helmet but does not have his fingers in the face mask or inside the helmet.
RULING: No foul as B5 did not grasp the helmet opening or face mask.
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I'm with you. I am a WH on Friday nights, and I want the 15-yard variety called when it is appropriate. Without looking it up, I'd venture to guess we had 7-8 facemask fouls called this season and perhaps 2 were of the 5-yard variety. If in doubt, it's 15, like Jeff said.
My pet peeve this season (we've talked about this after games, BTW) was that I had two illegal block in the back penalties reported to me by crew members where the foul was on the team not in possession at the time of the hit. Both fouls were legitimate penalties, I agree, but to me these are personal fouls, not "illegal blocks in the back" since there is nothing to block and it's just an ill-advised shot to the back, usually away from the play and usually dangerous.
--Rich