No Longer a Potential Blocker

[ajmc]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

allowing the defense to block in any direction as long as they don't use their hands to do so -- and that they can use their hands only to ward off a blocker.
Robert in the Bronx

Under the NF code, NF:2.3.1-3 (legal blocking techniques) apply equally to both offensive and defensive players. 2.3.4 expands what an offensive player may "ALSO" do, while 2.3.5 covers those actions a defensive player may "ALSO" engage in.

NF: 2.3.5.a, advises, "A defensive player may ALSO; (a) Use unlocked hands, hand or arm to ward of an opponent who is blocking him or attempting to block him.". Those actions are in addition to his authority to use either blocking technique defined in 2.3.2.a or b.

A generally acceptable assessment of "attempting to block" includes movement of an opponent towards a defensive player in advance of a runner, that ends when that opponent occupies the same yard line (without threatening the defensive player) or advances past, or away from him.

In the example of a "button hook" type movement, that motion can either be an effort to move away from the defender, presumably to receive a possible pass, or simply could be an effort to block the defender's path to another position on the field, which reasonably fits the definition of "attempting to block".

As is usually the case, the ultimate deciding factor in whether the contact is legal, or not, rests in the judgment of the covering official based on what he has observed.

(Excuse me Robert, where in the Bronx?)