Facemask?

[ljudge]

Illegal!

I actually made this call 3 years ago as a Referee in a Thanksgiving day game.

The away team was punting deep in its own endzone and the home team needed the ball badly down by 6 and less than a minute to play. I hated to see it come down to a call but the punter scrambled a bit (he was about to take an intentional safety) and the defender nearly ripped his head off by grabbing the back of the helmet opening.

I called a 15-yard facemask and it gave the away team a first down. They ran the clock out and won the game.

You need to have the courage to make the call when it's there. I slept just fine that night!

It's in rule 9. I believe under section 3 or 4 where you have the facemask foul defined. It mentions the helmet opening.

[Welpe]

Just as ljudge said, grasping any helmet opening is illegal. I called it once this season when a linebacker had a running back by the back of the helmet. He looked like he was trying to unscrew his head and find his brain.

[OverAndBack]

Yep, safety issue. Any opening will work.

[MJT]

Many coaches seem to think that if you touch the helmet, it is a FM. A player can grab the side of the helmet, or the back and they want a FM. They are just "wanting something," which is understandable.