Rule Differences Between NFHS and NFL

[Scooby]

I was asked to referee a Semi-Pro football game Saturday and they use NFL rules. I have only worked high school football, though I watch a lot of NFL and that seems to make a lot fans experts on the rules .

So is there a good resource for the rule differences?

I heard that this year there is no more force out on a caught pass. The receiver must come down in bounds even if the defender is hitting him.

[Jim D]

The biggest adjustment is in timing. The NFL has some really different rules on when to start and stop the clock. Penalty enforcement is another area to concentrate on. On everything else (other than the running not being down if he slips) you can use your normal judgement. Pass interference, holding, roughing, clipping, etc. are all similar calls at any level. Send me your email and I'll send you some stuff.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by Scooby

I was asked to referee a Semi-Pro football game Saturday and they use NFL rules. I have only worked high school football, though I watch a lot of NFL and that seems to make a lot fans experts on the rules .

So is there a good resource for the rule differences?

I heard that this year there is no more force out on a caught pass. The receiver must come down in bounds even if the defender is hitting him.

The vast majority of leagues that use NFL rules (the NFL itself being in the minority, of course ) or mostly NFL rules, even those whose seasons start almost as late as the NFL's, use the previous year's NFL rules, so they can see how they're administered, so this change would almost certainly not be in effect for a league playing in the spring.

There are a number of things for which you'd whistle in Fed but not in NFL. These come to mind:

• player entering neutral zone
• runner touching the ground other than by feet or hands
• kick entering R's end zone.

Robert

[HawkeyeCubP]

Originally Posted by Scooby

I was asked to referee a Semi-Pro football game Saturday and they use NFL rules. I have only worked high school football, though I watch a lot of NFL and that seems to make a lot fans experts on the rules .

So is there a good resource for the rule differences?

I heard that this year there is no more force out on a caught pass. The receiver must come down in bounds even if the defender is hitting him.

If your semi-pro league(s) don't have their own website, check out this one. I'm guessing the rules are pretty similar.

http://ncaffootball.org/ncaf/rules.html

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by HawkeyeCubP

If your semi-pro league(s) don't have their own website, check out this one. I'm guessing the rules are pretty similar.

http://ncaffootball.org/ncaf/rules.html

I would guess not, unless you count as "pretty similar" all the major North American football codes of the last 5 year, which you can say they are!

There has been greater standardiz'n of minor league football rules in recent years with the inclusion of more circuits in a few big federations -- AFA, USFA, ECFF -- but that still leaves a lot of differences. One of the biggest problems is IWs by Fed-experienced refs in the situations I mentioned above.

I've even seen myself, and reported by others, inconsistency during a game in which yard line to kick off from as the officials forget which rule the league uses. The coaches may not know either, even if it benefits their team!

Robert

[thomasz]

Originally Posted by HawkeyeCubP

If your semi-pro league(s) don't have their own website, check out this one. I'm guessing the rules are pretty similar.

http://ncaffootball.org/ncaf/rules.html

Head Coach will allowed to wear a different look as long as all colors match. Different to match many color, i guess.