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DevDog69 has nailed it. In some cases, accidental fouls are penalized. In other cases, intent must be determined before it is flagged. This can be true for the same type of foul. An example is the false start rule. Player's can simply forget the snap count and move prior to the snap. In other cases, officials must determine if the act of moving was intended to draw the defense to encroach.
Intentional grounding is a rule where we must make an effort to determine intent before we flag it. Guidelines are in place to assist us in determining intent but we still use our judgment.
Safety fouls, like grabbing the facemask, are always called despite intent.
To sum up, game officials sometimes do need to determine intent before flagging something. Other times, intent does not need to be determined because the action is a foul regardless of intent.
[Edited by mikesears on Jul 19th, 2005 at 09:19 AM]
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Mike Sears
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