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Illegal!
I actually made this call 3 years ago as a Referee in a Thanksgiving day game.
The away team was punting deep in its own endzone and the home team needed the ball badly down by 6 and less than a minute to play. I hated to see it come down to a call but the punter scrambled a bit (he was about to take an intentional safety) and the defender nearly ripped his head off by grabbing the back of the helmet opening.
I called a 15-yard facemask and it gave the away team a first down. They ran the clock out and won the game.
You need to have the courage to make the call when it's there. I slept just fine that night!
It's in rule 9. I believe under section 3 or 4 where you have the facemask foul defined. It mentions the helmet opening.
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