Hitting in the facemask

[maven]

Originally Posted by Rickwill

hey why is it allowed for a player to hit a player in the facemask with their open palm as long as they have the ball in the other hand? Have you seen how the defender's head snaps back when they get hit in the facemask? whats the deal here?

The runner may ward off potential tacklers. Been a rule forever. If the tackler can't avoid a stiffarm, that's his problem.

As others have posted, striking or grab/twist of the facemask is a personal foul.

Sounds like you had a bad experience. Wanna vent about it?

[Rickwill]

thanks, just have been seeing alot of violations by ball carriers in this case, and no one seems to make the call anymore as long as the ball carrier doesn't grab the facemask

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Rickwill

thanks, just have been seeing alot of violations by ball carriers in this case, and no one seems to make the call anymore as long as the ball carrier doesn't grab the facemask

Perhaps you aren't seeing a flag for these "violations" because they aren't violations.

An open hand to the facemask is legal by the runner. Why is he allowed to do that when others aren't? Because he's the runner. You're allowed block the runner below the waist to tackle him. You're allowed to pushed the runner in the back to tackle him. You're allowed to trip the runner to tackle him. You're allowed to clip the runner to tackle him. SO the runner has to be allowed so leniency to ward off defenders who are trying to tackle him.