Tipped pass?

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by Hand Signals

A forward pass is tipped at the line of scrimmage and goes high in the air. A defender, in an effort to get to the ball or restrict an offensive player from getting to the ball, grabs the offensive player by the back of the shirt and pulls him down. (No horsecollar tackle) Legal?

Holding. Maybe unsporstmanlike.

[Hand Signals]

Unsportsmanlike?????? How so?

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by Hand Signals

Unsportsmanlike?????? How so?

Guess.

[HLin NC]

NFHS: Pass interference restrictions end for Team B when a legal forward pass is touched by any player. This is no foul.

[Hand Signals]

That's the way I felt about it.

[JRutledge]

You cannot just hold someone regardless of the status of the ball. The restrictions for passing interference for the defense clearly end on a tipped pass. But unsportsmanlike conduct cannot ever take place with contact in a NF game. There is an instance at the NCAA level, but this would not likely apply here.

Peace

[ajmc]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

You cannot just hold someone regardless of the status of the ball. The restrictions for passing interference for the defense clearly end on a tipped pass. But unsportsmanlike conduct cannot ever take place with contact in a NF game. There is an instance at the NCAA level, but this would not likely apply here.

Peace

AS ALWAYS, it depends on what you actually see. NFHS: 2-3-5-b "A defensive player MAY ALSO push, pull or ward off an opponent in an actual attempt to get at the runner OR A LOOSE BALL if such contact is not pass interference, a personal foul or illegal use of the hands.

HOWEVER, NFHS: 9-4-g prohibits, "Make ANY OTHER CONTACT WITH AN OPPONENT, including a defenseless player which is deemed unnecessary or excessive and which incites roughness.".

So it really boils down to YOUR judgment as to the specific situation YOU are looking at.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

Holding. Maybe unsporstmanlike.

It may be an unfair act, but how would you get unsportsmanlike conduct from a contact foul? (That used to exist in Fed and NCAA, but I thought they separated those categories years ago.)

The unfair act, if called, would be enforced as a referee's discretionary penalty, most likely possession to the nonoffending side at the spot, as equitable. Otherwise just illegal use of hands on a loose ball play.