General Philosophy - taken from Mike Pereira, NFL Get in shape Know the rules Get reps Watch film (taped televised games are valuable) First impressions are critical (on-field actions and communications with everyone including game-day staff) Shut up Learn the three stages of officiating: See nothing; call nothing See everything; call everything See what you’re supposed to see; call what materially affects the play

Do we think before we do?

SGFOA-Training Session topics Blocks in the Back Pass Interference

Definitions Block in the Back- Rule 2-5 ART. 2 Blocking in the back is a block against an opponent when the initial contact is in the opponent’s back, inside the shoulders and below the helmet and above the waist, and not against a player who is a runner or pretending to be a runner.

Block in the back IBB When in doubt, the contact is legal and not from behind. When the contact is ruled to be from behind, and the official has question as to the initial point of contact, it shall be ruled clipping. See the whole play! No Ball hawking Penalty-? Enforcement spot? Signal? Legal Blocks in the back- who, where, when? Chase mode- gets beat- Free Kicks-scrimmage kicks around the R, in the back field, running plays, crack blocks toward the line, motion man,

Blocks in the Back Free Blocking zone Rectangular area extending laterally 4 yards either side of the spot of the snap and 3 yards behind each line of scrimmage. Blocking in the back is permitted in the free blocking zone By offensive lineman who are on the line of scrimmage and in the zone at the snap Against defensive players who are in the zone at the snap The contact is in the zone.

Legal Blocks in the Back If the block is on the side, it is legal If the opponent turns his back, it is legal if the opponent was able to see the blocker Defensive players are allowed to push an opponent in the back above the waist if they are trying to get to the runner. Any player of either team may legally push or pull an opponent in the back above the waist when trying to reach a loose ball such as a fumble, backward pass, a kick they are eligible to touch, or a tipped forward pass. They are allowed to push in the back if they are warding off a blocker (9-3-5b).

Questions-Block in the back Case plays 1.Runner A1 is hit behind the line. The ball pops free and: (a) is in the air; or (b) is rolling on the ground, when B1 pushes A2 in the back above the waist to get to the loose ball. Ruling: ? (2-3-4c;2-3-5b) 2.Runner A1 breaks free beyond the neutral at midfield. A2 is running between A1 and safety B1, who is gaining fast on both of them. As B1 nears A2 he pushes him from behind above the waist to clear the way to A1. B1 subsequently tackles A1 at B’s 10-yard line. Ruling: ? (2-3-5b)

Pass interference ( and ) The toughest and most controversial calls that an official has to make. There are two helpful keys to this rule: 1. all eligible receivers on both teams have equal rights to the ball 2. there is pass interference only if the action involves contact that interferes with an opponent’s opportunity to move toward, catch or bat the pass. Contact by a defender obviously away from the direction of the pass is not pass interference (7-5-11c).

Pass Interference Definition: Forward pass Interference Any player of A or B who is beyond the neutral zone interferes with an eligible opponent’s opportunity to move toward, catch or bat the pass. Rule 7-5 Art. 10 Any player hinders an opponent’s vision without making an attempt to catch, intercept or bat the ball, even though no contact was made. Apply only to a legal ________ Pass. All A players become eligible when B touches a legal forward pass- T or F ? A player who is eligible at the start of the down remains eligible throughout the down Major foul- Guy in the stands Good Judgment- make it big Penalty? Enforcement spot? Signal? OPI vs DPI Holding vs. DPI Four hands up- Incidental contact

Pass Interference There are two indicators that make a player 'suspect' for PI:  Bite - when a player 'bites' on a move and then has to try to recover, such as when a receiver does a hook 'n' go - if he bites on the hook, he will frequently try to recover by grabbing the receiver as he goes by, etc., which can turn into PI.  Chase - when a player is chasing an opponent, either by design or because he is beaten, he will tend to commit PI.

Philosophy Both offensive receiver and defender have equal rights to the ball. Players must play the ball and not their opponent. A player playing his opponent rather than the ball (where’s his head?) is much more liable for PI if contact occurs. Catchability is not a factor in Federation rules, but…use common sense. Restrictions Begin for Team A at the snap and end when B touches the forward pass Begin for Team B when the pass is in flight and end when the forward pass is touched by either A or B.

Pass Interference There must be contact to have PI (not in NF because of face guarding), but contact alone does not indicate PI. There must be a real 'restriction' for PI to occur. Note that two players both making an effort to reach the ball might 'bang arms' - no foul. PI is almost always going to occur from the waist up. Player running side by side or in tandem who get their feet tangled with no OBVIOUS intent to impede - no foul. Early contact by the defender who is Not Playing the Ball is defensive pass interference provided the other requirements for DPI have been met, regardless of how deep the pass is thrown to the receiver.

Pass Interference There six categories of PI: 1. Arm Bar - an arm across the body restricting the opponent from moving where he wants to go. An arm across the body is not enough - there must be a restriction of movement. 2. Hold - actually grasping an opponent, particularly the arm, restricting him from being able to reach a pass. Classically, grabbing an arm, keeping the opponent from raising it to catch the pass. 3. Not playing the ball - the player is not making a bona fide effort to reach the pass (usually not looking back for the ball), and contacts the opponent (usually body to body) restricting him from moving where he wants to go, or knocking him off his path to the ball. 4. Playing through the back - even if making an effort to touch the pass, contacting an opponent through the back, restricting his ability to touch the pass. 5. Hook and twist - hooking the arm around the waist or shoulders, AND twisting the opponent, restricting him from his effort to touch the pass. An arm around the body is not enough - there must be a twist or turn. 6. Cutoff - even if looking back for the ball, a player can not position himself to restrict or prevent an opponent from moving toward a pass.

What exactly constitutes offensive pass interference? Blocking beyond the expanded neutral zone. An eligible receiver or an ineligible illegally downfield may not block an opponent beyond the expanded neutral before a legal forward pass which crosses the neutral zone is touched by B. Push Off. A receiver pushes off a defender in such a way that he creates “separation” between the defender and himself. Don’t flag the little touches and taps that create no material advantage for the receiver. Look for the separation created by a genuine shove. Receiver drives through the back of a defender. Just like a defender who drives through the back of an eligible receiver, this is a foul. In general, offensive pass interference is a distinct possibility whenever the receiver is put in the position of becoming the defender. Example: Receiver has defender beat on a long sideline pattern. Ball is thrown short so that the defender now has the advantage. Watch for the receiver coming back to break up the play.

Pass Interference There are 3 categories of OPI (Off. pass interference) 1: Blocking downfield before the ball has been touched (Commonly refereed to as the pick play 2: Shoving or pushing off, and creating separation. (This is the most common type of OPI) 3: Driving through a defender who had established position.

Where might you see this tactic? It’s often a “red zone” play, occurring close to the opponent’s goal line. Typically it happens out of a “trips” formation or out of a formation where there are two receivers set up away from the tackle or tight end when the defense is in man-to-man coverage. The pick may come from the inside attempting to free up the widest receiver running an “in” pattern. It can also be run from the outside where the pick frees up the inside receiver (probably a TE) for a pass into the flats. Be looking for it out of spread formations down in the “red zone,” especially if the offense audible after seeing man-to-man coverage. HL, LJ, and BJ must know their keys and watch for this type of activity. Not a bad idea to have a signal to remind each other to look for picks in this type of situation.

Receiver physically “picks” a defender. This must be an intentional act by the receiver. He must be “hunting” for the defender and initiate contact with him for the sole purpose of knocking him off his defensive coverage. Don’t flag this unless you see the whole play. If the receiver is standing still looking back for the ball, and the defender runs into him, it’s not an illegal pick. It might just be defensive pass interference. If the receiver is running a legitimate pattern looking back at the QB when the contact occurs, chances are pretty good that you don’t have a pick. Also, if the defender swerves to avoid the oncoming pick and no contact occurs, there is no foul. You must have contact to even consider a pick.

Ineligible touches pass beyond the ENZ. In Federation rules, an ineligible receiver touching a legal forward pass beyond the expanded neutral zone before an opponent has touched it constitutes Illegal touching and not OPI. Note that this restriction where such touching must be intentional (catch, bat, muff). You typically see this when a wide out “covers” the player intended to be the tight end who then catches a forward pass downfield.

Questions-T-F A player who is an eligible receiver at the snap may become ineligible during the down? (7-5-6d ) If B1 tackles eligible A1 behind the line while the pass is in flight, it is pass interference? (7-5-7) It is possible for B42 to commit pass interference after the pass has been touched by A81? ( 7-5-9c) Contact by a defender that occurs clearly away from where the pass is thrown is not pass interference, but could be another foul? (7-5-13) If A11’s forward pass is deflected by A82 to A63 behind the neutral zone and A63 catches it, there is no foul? (7-5-13)

Videos OPI DPI Late Hit

Questions?