Team A drops back to pass, but has an ineligible player downfield. During the pass, the ball (1) hits an offensive lineman past the line of scrimmage or (2) hits an offensive lineman behind the line of scrimmage.

What are the calls?

FED rules:

1. Offensive pass interference. 15 yds & loss of down.

2. Illegal touching, if intentional. 5 yds. replay the down. If it hits him accidentally, no call.

[Edited by STEVED21 on Sep 28th, 2002 at 06:50 AM]

(1) Offensive Pass Interference.

(2) Depends. Did the ball simply hit the lineman? Or did the lineman try to catch the ball? IF it hit the lineman, we have nothing. If the lineman tried to catch the ball, it is ilegal touching.

We had that happen
 

just last week.

The Lineman was engaged in a block and in the expanded neutral zone. The QB threw the ball as he was being hit. The ball hit the lineman in THE BACK OF THE HELMET.

I threw a flag for the illegal touching. It was waved off by my referee because the "illegal touching" was behind the expanded NZ and was unintentional.

If the lineman had intentionally batted it, it would've been the 5 yard penalty and a loss of down. If the passer intentionally hit the lineman it could've been ruled grounding.

The ref showed me the rule:

7-13
An ineligible A player bats, muffs or catches a forward pass while in or behind the neutral zone prior to the pass being touched by B.

The wording of this rule suggests that the touching would have to be an attempt by an ineligible to actually catch or bat the pass. This lineman did neither, so we waved it.

Yes, if the offensive linemen are engaged in blocking their opponents in or behind the expanded neutral zone and the pass hits them in the back, you have a good no-call.

I'm not so sure about calling intentional grounding. If the tight end is cutting across the middle on a short 5 and in route I would have another good no-call. But I can see your point. If there is no eligible receiver in the area you have a good case for calling this. The referee needs to judge the passer's intent, abilities, and game situation.

If the offensive lineman is not blocking anybody and he drifts beyond the original neutral zone, you would definitely have either an ineligible receiver or offensive pass interference foul if the pass crosses the neutral zone.

As the HL, LJ, U, and R know (depending on mechinics in use), we need to know if the pass was touched in or behind the neutral zone and whether it was completed beyond the line or completed in or behind the neutral zone. This determines the whether we have a foul or not.