Tough to find

[Coachmerritt]

Slamming a player to the ground after stopping his forward progress (in bounds or out) IS by the rule (illegal personal contact) illegal...according to the rulebook I have.

In my case the White hat had originally awarded us an untimed down but called "dead ball" personal foul. There wasn't really opposition to the free down until another ref who was in street clothes...(yes street clothes..don't get me started on that one!) stepped in and told the side judge that in this case the period should not be extended that it didn't meet the criteria. That ref called a conference......white hat changed his mind....halftime.

In my opinion there should be no difference between slamming a player down to finish off the tackle in bounds or out..as long as the initial contact was made in bounds.
It definitely was a good flag to throw I just feel it was enforced incorrectly.