Tom Higgins
CFL.ca
Every game has its toughest call: the split second, “bang bang” decision that challenges officials, riles up coaches, and cues the controversy machine.
In baseball, it’s the pitch over the corner of the plate. In basketball, it’s the choice between an offensive charge and a defensive block. In our game, it’s pass interference.
A pass interference call can mean big yardage and even bigger momentum. It can change the course of a game or even a season – not to mention the blood pressure of those who play, coach or follow the CFL.
It can also be one of the least understood penalties. Here’s a primer on pass interference, and illegal contact on a receiver. As you read it, bear in mind an official has to take all of these things into account, in the blink of an eye and at the speed of a game played by some of the world’s finest and fastest athletes.
Pass Interference
Pass interference occurs after a pass is thrown and while the ball is in the air. (Illegal contact on a receiver occurs before a ball is thrown.)
A defender has the right to play the ball (that is to say, to catch it or knock it down). If he is not playing the ball, and he contacts or faceguards a receiver, that is pass interference.
Face-guarding is defined as having your hand or hands up in the air, above shoulder level, and interfering with the receiver’s view of the flight and arrival of the ball. Face-guarding and then turning to look for the ball is illegal. Turning to look back for the ball, and then putting your hands up, is legal.
A defensive player who perfectly times putting his hands and arms up in the air at the instant the ball arrives, but is not face-guarding, is performing a good defensive play.
If the receiver and defender are both looking at the ball and playing the ball, and contact occurs, this is not pass interference. Both the offensive and defensive players have the right to attempt to catch the pass. This is true even if the contact is a collision – as long as both are playing the ball.
But a player, offensive or defensive, is not allowed to “go through” his opponent to get to the ball.
If neither player is playing the ball, nor there is any incidental contact that does not affect the pattern of an eligible receiver, there is no pass interference on the play.
If one player is playing the ball and the other is not playing the ball, and there is contact by the player not playing the ball, that is pass interference.
On an underthrown pass, if a player tries to come back and play the ball and is prevented from doing so by another player’s established position, there is no foul.
When an offensive player is running a pattern parallel to the sideline and the defender has inside position running beside the receiver, and the defensive player’s line or position prevents the receiver from getting past him to get to the ball, it’s not pass interference.
Tripping of an opponent by a player in a trail position is Accidental Pass Interference – a ten yard penalty and an automatic first down. An inadvertent trip when opposing players are side by side is not a foul.
If there is pass interference on a play where a pass is deemed clearly uncatchable, there is no foul.
Illegal Contact on Receivers
Defenders may contact or “jam” receivers in the neutral zone (one-yard in depth on their own side of the line of scrimmage). But a defender can’t cut block a receiver (hit him at or below the knees) at the line of scrimmage.
Beyond the neutral zone, a defender may use his hands or arms to ward off an offensive player who is threatening the defensive player’s position.
Otherwise, once a receiver is off the line of scrimmage, he has the right to run his pattern without contact. So contact, or a clutch or grab, on a receiver before the ball is thrown is Illegal Contact, the result of which is a 10-yard penalty.
A defender can re-route a receiver by defending his established position, but not by stepping up, stepping out, or attacking the receiver. If a defender has established his position, even where he is face-to-face with a receiver and uses his hands and arms to defend his position, there is no foul.
Play action (fake handoff), Shovel Pass or Screen Pass
On a potential play action, shovel or screen pass play, if the quarterback fakes a handoff, the player he has faked to, may be contacted as if he were a ball carrier.
If a potential shovel or screen pass receiver is not involved in a fake handoff, he is treated as a receiver behind the line of scrimmage and may not be illegally contacted before the pass is thrown, or interfered with in the act of catching a pass.
