Answer: No, I don't agree. The 5 or 15 controversy just shifts the decision making. Before the 5 yard foul was added, officials were hesitant to call a Grasping the Face Mask foul unless the Defensive player grabbed and pulled. Simply grabbing the mask and letting go didn't deserve a 15 yard penalty, so the call was avoided unless the pull was obvious. The rules makers, however, wanted a flag every time the facemask was grabbed. To get officials to call it, the 5 yarder was added so officials would accept throwing a flag every time. Whether the decision is advantage vs. disadvantage or grab vs. grab and pull, the official still has to make an instantaneous judgement. This is virtually the same in NCAA games.
Question: John Madden went off about the Vikings Corey Stringer being flagged for "hands to the face." according to Madden, you have to let players put hands in the face. After reading your column for a few years, I'm not sure the rules allow for all of the things Madden wants the players to be allowed to do. Am I reading this one correctly? P. H. Columbus, Ohio
Answer: You certainly are. I remember seeing a play where Madden complained about a hands to the face. The Defensive lineman put his hand under the facemask and pushed up. The Offensive lineman's head was pushed back. This is dangerous. The rules makers realize it and don't want any contact that can potentially hurt a man's neck. That is why the rule was put in.
I've got another Maddenism for you. In the second Dallas-Washington game, he went on over a Defensive Pass Interference call against Darryl Green of the Redskins. The Referee said that Green was guilty of cutting off the receiver's path to the ball. According to Madden coaches have been coaching that since football began, or some time like that. The rulebook says, "It is pass interference by either team when any player movement beyond the offensive line significantly hinders the progress of an eligible player or such player's opportunity to catch the ball during a forward pass." If I am on Defense and I get in front of a receiver and slow down so he can't go after the pass, then I have committed Defensive Pass Interference. Maybe coaches have been teaching this illegal tactic forever, but it's still illegal. Making that call says to me that the officiating must be getting much better than it used to be because this very subtle foul was caught. On this aspect of Defensive Pass Interference, the NCAA rules are the same.
What Would You Do? The Cowboys have the ball on the Packers five yard line. Emmitt Smith fumbles at the four. The ball is rolling loose and Reggie White, diving for the ball, muffs it into the end zone where another Packer falls on the ball. Seventy thousand screaming fans and some millions more at home are waiting for you to make the call. What would you do? You could call a touchback because the Cowboy fumble was recovered in the Packer end zone. You could, but you'd be wrong. The Packers muff is the cause of the ball being in their own end zone. That means that the call is a Safety. (3-14-3, 11-4-1 SN 1) In a college game, unless the Defensive player actually bats the ball, the reason the ball is in the end zone is because of the fumble. Therefore, you would have to call a touchback and give the ball to the Defense. (8-7-2a, b)
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