Uncle Ernie is at it again

[Bob M.]

Originally posted by James Neil

Uncle Ernie felt the same way about the clipping. Hold on there Bob. You need to read the whole rule NF 9-3-5 b....Using hands and arms to contact an opponent above the waist in warding off a blocker, "or when attempting to reach a runner", or catch or recover a loose ball which he may legally touch or possess.

REPLY: Agreed. But let's look at NF 9-3-5b. It says:
ART. 5... A player shall not clip or block an opponent in the back except...(b) Using hands and arms to contact an opponent above the waist in warding off a blocker, or when attempting to reach a runner or catch or recover a loose ball which he may legally touch or possess.

I read this to say that the requirement about using my hands above the waist only is if I'm "...warding off a blocker." For the second part of (b), i.e. when I'm going after a loose ball which I may legally possess, there appears to be no such restriction. I guess it's a question of how you read it.

However, let's put ourselves on the field. There's a loose ball and A55 is standing there not realizing it's loose (or maybe he's just in a momentary fog). B23 dives for the ball and happens to hit A55 below the waist from behind in the process. Would you throw the flag in this case? Note, I mean to say that it's abundantly clear that B is going after the ball and his contact with A55 is just incidental to that effort. He's not trying to take A out of the play. It just happens because he's in B's path to the ball.