What is holding defined as in the rulebook and what are you looking for to call it?
— Rob Semanik, Springfield
During a block by an offensive player, the following constitutes illegal actions for holding or illegal use of the hands: (1) use of hands or arms to grab, twist or tackle an opponent; (2) if a blocker, after the initial forward thrust of his hands, does not immediately work to bring his hands on and inside the opponent’s frame; (3) use of hands or arms to push an opponent from behind that affects his movement, except in close line play.
The preceding three items are all illegal, providing they have a direct effect on the play. If there is a potential for offensive holding and the opponent being blocked is tackling the runner behind the line of scrimmage at or near the spot of the potential hold, offensive holding will not be called because it did not affect the play.
When is the clock stopped on a field goal attempt? It seems to vary if the clock runs out or not at the end of a quarter with only a few seconds left. Also, is the rule different in college?
— Dave, Omaha
The clock is stopped on a field goal attempt when the ball strikes something beyond the goalposts. It could be the stands, but in most cases, it is the net that is put up to save the football from the fans. The college and professional rule regarding this is the same. You might see a difference of timing because of the location of the timer. Some timers are located in the press box and some are on the field. Their ability to see when the ball hits something could vary because of their location.
What distance constitutes an “ineligible man” downfield and what is the rationale behind the violation? In other words, what advantage does an offense incur by having a non-eligible man downfield?
— Steve L., Glencoe, Ill.
It is a foul when an ineligible offensive player, which is difficult to describe but is often an offensive lineman, advances beyond his line of scrimmage after losing contact with an opponent at the line of scrimmage. It is also illegal when an ineligible offensive player moves downfield without contacting an opponent at the line of scrimmage. These restrictions end when the ball leaves the passer’s hand. The offending player must be more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage prior to the pass to be illegally downfield. This guideline is used in college and professional football.
As to your second question, when the offensive lineman advances beyond the line of scrimmage on a normal play, it tells the defense that a pass will not be thrown on the play. This is the reason that the penalty exists. It would be sending a false message to the defense and would change its defensive reaction on the play. The defense is set up to do different things based on whether the play is a run or pass — if a tackle hits a linebacker, the linebacker immediately knows it’s a run and he doesn’t have to worry about pass defense.
The rules of football are set up so that no unfair advantage is given to either team. The trick plays that exist in football have to fall under the umbrella of the rules. The defense can be tricked by a draw play as long as the draw play is within the rules -? with no ineligible men downfield.
If a kickoff splits the uprights, is it a field goal?
— Darryl Lawson, Hudsonville, Mich.
To have a successful field goal, a placekick or dropkick must be made by the offensive team from behind the line of scrimmage. On a free kick, the technical name for a kickoff, a line of scrimmage has not been established. Therefore, if the ball splits the uprights, it is not a successful field goal, but merely a touchback.
I see this more and more. And I know that the camera angle I see it from may give me a bad perspective. When a defensive lineman is in his stance with his hand out of the neutral zone but his head in the neutral zone, is he offsides? Some nose tackles look like their head is almost touching the center’s.
— Jeff McClellan, Dallas Center, Iowa
When the ball is made ready by the referee, the neutral zone is established. The neutral zone is the length of the football, which is approximately twelve inches in length. No player of either team may encroach upon the neutral zone prior to the ball being snapped. If a defensive lineman has his head in the neutral zone, it is a foul, and a flag for defensive offside will be thrown when the ball is snapped. Camera angles are deceiving.
Occasionally we see the officials carefully measuring with the chains to see if the offense has made a first down. Since the chains are not initially positioned that carefully, and we know that spotting the ball is an inexact science, why is such a measurement considered accurate?
— Robert S., Chicago
The people who make up the chain crews are very professional and very accurate in setting up each new series. The spotting of the ball during plays is a true art performed extremely well by onfield officials. This has been an accepted method of measuring field position since football was born. And until someone comes up with a better mousetrap, this method will continue to be used. Remember, spotting of the ball is not an exact science. When the chains are brought in to measure whether a first down has been made, great excitement is generated. It is little things like this that make football so wonderful.
In your Sept. 16 column, you talked about illegal touching by the kicking team on a punt. Is this different from “downing” a punt, or is downing simply an application of the rule? Nevertheless, I’ve seen a kicking team player (say at the 1-yard line) tip the ball back into the playing field where it is “downed” by another kicking team player (say at the 5-yard line). Given your explanation, shouldn’t the ball be spotted at the 1-yard line and not the 5-yard line?
— Richard Hallowell, Ridgecrest, Cal.
When the kicking team “downs” a punt, it is the same as illegal touching and the ball is awarded to the receiving team at that spot. When a kicking team player leaps from the one-yard line to bat a ball back into the field of play before it lands in the end zone, and the ball goes out-of-bounds at the five-yard line, the spot of illegal touching is the spot where the player left the ground — the one-yard line. The receiving team can have that ball at that spot but will take it at the 5-yard line, where it went out-of-bounds, because that spot is more advantageous. The receiving team can always select the result of play in lieu of the spot of first touching.
