Interference or Not?
 

A80, the wideout goes downfield at the snap and pushs B25 down to the ground and runs his pattern to the sideline. QB A12, throws the ball in his direction, and B70 tips the ball behind the LOS and the ball goes beyond the neutral zone and is caught by A80 10 yards downfield and he runs the ball for a touchdown. Is this OPI by A80 in this situation? Please provide your ruling.

I'll take a stab.

I think it is. PI restrictions for A start at the snap and do not end until touched by B or the last pass is caught. Since the foul occurred before touching by B, I say it is OPI.

It is OPI!

No, it's not. Check 7.5.7 Situation A.

I see the case book reference and OPI would not aply in this situation. However, could A80 be guilty of a illegal personal contact foul (i,e, holding on B25 or illegal use of hands). This seems to what created A80 to be open for the pass reception.

This would be OPI. Maybe I'm missing something, but 7.5.7 A does not seem to apply to this play. 7.5.7 A refers to a screen pass behind the line.

Unfortunate as it looks, the tip of the pass by the team-B player behind the NZ would nullify any flag you might have on the ground for OPI.

This smells bad since there is no doubt in my mind that this play was never intended to be a screen pass, so A80's block on the defender would have been illegal from the start. It least it is in my vision of the play.

REPLY: Just don't "create" an illegal contact (PF) foul because OPI is off the table. If you're going to call it a personal foul or illegal use of the hands, or holding, that particular foul, with all its characteristics, better be there. A good legal block by A80 needs to be simply ignored.

So given the responses, what about this situation?

A80 is streaking down the sidelines with B21 in coverage. A8 throws deep and A80 pushes off B21. Just after the push-off, B21 manages to get a hand up and tip the ball. A80 catches the ball and runs in for a TD.

No OPI since B touched it?

REPLY: No...it's still OPI. B's touching of the ball beyond the neutral zone eliminates the possibility of any PI after the touch--but not before. The original post's situation was one where B touched the ball behind the neutral zone. That's a different animal.