[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by glenner2
quick question about penalties that involve "half the distance to the goal line" situations. while the team is penalized a smaller number of yards than they would if they were, say, at the 50-yard line, i am curious to know whether the first down marker is moved forward to compensate for the reduced penalty yardage?

EXAMPLE: team on their own 10-yard line, called for a holding penalty on 1st and 10. so this means that they will get pushed back half the distance to the 5 yard line. the next play will be 1st and 15 from the 5-yard line, right? well, why isn't it 1st and 20 from the 5 (like it would be if their were at the 40 yard line)? i think the half-the-distance rule is fair, but the penalized team should still get full punishment by having the first down marker moved out.

i never recall hearing anything about the first yard marker being moved, but it seems strange that the penalizeed team is not fully punished because the yards needed to gain a first down are less than if they were in the middle of the field. any thoughts? do the rules state that the first down marker is not moved? and why is this the case?

The line to gain is not moved any other time. There's no reason to move it inside the 30 either. The rule is the saem for both teams. There's euquity.