WOAH! WOW! What is this wondrous occasion? Another edition of B-SITH so soon? Yes yes, my faithful minions...I decided to do a short turnaround this time and satiate your appetite for more rules knowledge and discussion in only a few (well, several) short days after posting my last entry. Today is going to be a bit of a stretch for me...I am going to discuss a penalty that I rarely call: HOLDING. It's not that a Back Judge CAN'T call it(remember restriction/holding is a component of pass interference) but it's one of those that is more likely to be committed at the LOS. Therefore..quick test...who are the two officials most likely to flag this foul? BINGO! The umpire or the referee.
A common phrase heard among Canadian Football coaches such as Larz the EXTREMELY intelligent coaching experts and a number of Tee-Vee Common Taters is that "you could call holding on every play." A quick look at the actual language of the rule governing holding will show that this is not the case.
Rule 9-3-3-b
Holding or illegal obstruction by a teammate of the ball carrier or passer applies to...:
1. The hand(s) and arm(s) shall not be used to grasp, pull or encircle in any way that ILLEGALLY IMPEDES or ILLEGALLY OBSTRUCTS an opponent.
2. The hand(s) or arm(s) shall not be used to hook, clamp or otherwise ILLEGALLY IMPEDE or ILLEGALLY OBSTRUCT an opponent
PENALTY- 10 yards(Excp: Penalties for Team A foul behind the NZ are enforced from the prev. spot. Safety if the foul occurs in the EZ). [S42]
Notice the key words(which I conveniently bolded for the easier reading comprehension of CSN). You must have a material OBSTRUCTION of another player before holding is called. The reason many people believe the saying that holding occurs on every play is that they do not understand what holding IS. Grasping is not holding. Hooking is not holding. Grabbing is not holding. As officials, if two big uglies are both engaged with each other and one or both players each have a big handful of jersey but neither of them attempts to actually GO anywhere, we call that "dancing."
Notice here how the SC player has the Tennessee defender's collar and has a big handful of jersey grasping and starting to pull. This in and of itself is not holding. Since his hands are inside the frame of the shoulders, we would let this go. Compare this image to this video:
Notice that the hands are grabbing jersey and the flag does not get thrown until the defender tries to escape the grasp and is still restricted. When I was a Line Judge, I always heard "he's holding me, he's holding me!" I would say, "Son, until you try to get away and he doesn't let you, you're just dancin'."
The next principle for holding is to understand the concept of "point of attack." Officials use point of attack pretty frequently when referring to numerous fouls. Contrary to popular belief(and some unpopular myths) officials really don't WANT to throw flags and we do not get paid by the number of penalties we call. Penalties take time to stop the clock, administer, reset, etc. We really don't want to have to be out on the field longer than the game clock requires us to be. Not that we don't love the game, we do, but we have wives/girlfriends/pets at home that we'd rather be with than these sweaty 300 lb men.
Point of attack refers to the area either directly around or in the direction that the ball is travelling. So in a number of instances, you might have a sweep play going around the right side of the formation and the left WR grabs, pulls down, hooks the opposing DB in what would definitely qualify as a holding foul. We REALLY wouldn't want to call that one because it is so far away of the play, there is no real advantage being gained. That DB would never have been in that play and it's highly unlikely the hold caused an advantage for the offense. In those cases, we usually just tell the receiver, "Hey...11, I saw that. You better not do it again or you're getting 10." That can prevent a couple subsequent acts that would draw laundry, we don't have to delay the game, and we get to go out for beers even sooner!
This is a great call for a hook and turn right at the point of attack.
I will leave this discussion on a similar note to the Pass Interference article. Like PI, there are certain criteria that we categorize the fouls into. Unless the act rises to these levels, we cannot have holding:
1. Grab and Restrict
As a defender runs by a blocker, the blocker grabs jersey and prevents an advance
2. Hook and Turn
Just like in DPI, the arm is wrapped around the defender and he is spun around
3. Pullover
On a pass play, the blocker grabs the rushing lineman and pulls him down on top of himself
4. Tackle
Pretty self-explanatory
5. Jerk and Restrict
Usually on the LOS, the blocker begins a good block then slides his hands under the shoulder pads and jerks the defender from one side to another
6. Takedown
Think WWE suplex
-----------------------BONUS CONTENT!----------------------
It was requested that I do an article on how to properly throw a football as an official. Unfortunately, I don't think I can make an entire post about just that so I figured I'd give y'all some Overtime Content on this one.
The first and foremost rule to ball handling is defined as "quickly and efficiently , with as few exchanges as possible." So it would really not make sense for us to have to rear back, exert our entire body and throw 40 yard bombs like the QBs do in the game. That's not at all efficient. Instead, we are instructed to toss the ball and "all tosses shall be underhand, with a spiraling motion, and on a generally flat trajectory to chest level of [the] person receiving the ball. Do not toss the ball over players."
Most of the transfers will occur from the ball boy to the nearest official and then the official tosses to the umpire. Depending on the speed of the offense, the U may spot the ball or he may relay it to the R who will spot the ball.
-----------------------BONSUS CONTENT!--------------------
These excellent tweets from May weren't showing up in the comments, but they're too good to leave out of a piece on holding. Enjoy. (And yes, "BONSUS" is spelled correctly.) --FDM
I'll offer something else funny. None of the next four players were called holding! pic.twitter.com/JfXP2PYxH2
— Michael Bertsch (@NDsidBertschy) May 10, 2014
— Michael Bertsch (@NDsidBertschy) May 10, 2014
— Michael Bertsch (@NDsidBertschy) May 10, 2014
— Michael Bertsch (@NDsidBertschy) May 10, 2014
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