Inadvertant 5 yard facemask in the Offense...

[ljudge]

Originally Posted by grantsrc

Now, I just glanced at the rule book and I came across something. By the Federation rule book, can you call a 10 yard illegal use of hands foul in a play where an opponent gets his hands in the face of his opposition?

Yes, you can call a 10-yard illegal use of hands foul. My U came to me and said the offensive lineman put his hands in the face of an opponent and wanted a PF. I asked if he grabbed the facemask. When he said no he "basically stuck his hands in the defender's face" then I said we then should go with illegal use of hands, which we did.

[MJT]

Good call guys! Open hand blocking technique must be inside the frame, which is defined as "at or below the shoulders." The NFL covers it well with their "illegal hands to the face" call.

[grantsrc]

Originally Posted by ljudge

Yes, you can call a 10-yard illegal use of hands foul. My U came to me and said the offensive lineman put his hands in the face of an opponent and wanted a PF. I asked if he grabbed the facemask. When he said no he "basically stuck his hands in the defender's face" then I said we then should go with illegal use of hands, which we did.

My initial intention for posing this question was that my first thought was it can't be illegal use of hands because if you read just the definition of illegal use of hands, it doesn't say anything about hands to the face. But then I saw the reference to 2-3-2 and that's where the hands below the shoulders aspect comes in.

[waltjp]

I've called both offensive and defensive linemen for hands to the face this past season. I don't think I've ever seen an actual facemask penalty but it isn't hard to imagine it's happened. Either way, unless it's flagrant the illegal use of hands is the more severe penalty.