Penalties
Officials must memorize and be ready to call an infraction in a split second. An official signals an infraction by throwing a yellow flag. There are many rules in the NFL Rule Book; here are a few of the ones of which you might be unaware:
- Clipping - This is a block thrown in the back of the opposing player.
- Chop block
- This is an illegal block thrown below the waist of an opposing
player. These types of blocks have been known to cause severe leg
injuries to the opposing player. The offensive team is penalized 15
yards for this infraction.
- Encroachment - A
defending player moves into the neutral zone and makes contact with an
offensive player before the ball is put in play. The neutral zone is a
space the length of the ball that separates the offense and defense
prior to a play. The only player who can legally enter the neutral zone
is the center, who hands, or snaps, the ball to the quarterback to
start a play. The offensive team is awarded 5 yards for this penalty.
- Excessive crowd noise - The referee determines that the crowd is too loud. The home team can be penalized 5 yards or can lose a time-out.
- Fair catch
- A player receiving a kick or punt can signal that he does not intend
to return the ball by putting his arm in the air. Once he signals for a
fair catch, he cannot be tackled and cannot move beyond the spot where
he catches the ball.
- Intentional grounding - A
quarterback, who is in the pocket, intentionally throws the ball away
to avoid being tackled behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of
yards. The pocket is the rounded shape formed by the offensive linemen
during a play when they are blocking for the quarterback.
- Leaping rule - While players can
block kicks, they cannot run from more than 1 yard behind the line of
scrimmage to do so. According to NFL rules, a defensive player can
run forward and leap in attempt to block a kick if he was lined up
within 1 yard of the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped. But
if the player is lined up more than 1 yard from the line of scrimmage,
he cannot run up to the line, leap to block a kick and land on other
players. A 15-yard penalty is assessed for this infraction.
- Tuck rule
- A player, typically the quarterback, drops the ball when his arm is
moving forward to tuck the ball away. The action is considered an
incomplete pass rather than a fumble because his arm is moving forward.
- "Emmitt Smith" helmet rule - A player cannot remove his helmet on the field unless it is to adjust his equipment. This rule is dubbed the "Emmitt Smith rule" because Smith, who holds the record for most rushing touchdowns, was famous for ripping off his helmet to celebrate a touchdown. This rule was enacted to quell excessive celebrations. The team of the offending player is assessed a 15-yard penalty.
