FOOTBALL

© 2012 TASO Football Division FOOTBALL

© 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  Teams were warned last year about a potential rule change if helmets kept popping off.  Helmets kept coming off so several changes were made to address the problem. © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  Play clock change  Language (New item 13) “An offensive team player’s helmet comes completely off during the down. The play clock is set to 40 seconds if the helmet comes completely off a player of the defensive team. (Exc: With less than one minute remaining in either half the play clock is set at 25 seconds for any player.) © 2012 TASO Football Division Texas High Schools: Exception - No 40 second play clocks

FOOTBALL  Clock starting after a player has lost his helmet  Language (New item 16) “A player’s helmet comes completely off during the down.”  Result: Clock will be stopped at end of down as player had lost helmet and will be restarted on the Referee’s RFP signal. © 2012 TASO Football Division Texas High Schools: Exception -Not really

FOOTBALL  Player who loses his helmet will normally be required to leave the game for a play. © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  Language (New item 9) “a. If during the down a player’s helmet comes completely off, other than as the direct result of a foul by an opponent, the player must leave the game for the next down. The game clock will stop at the end of the down.” © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  Language (New item 9) b. When the helmet coming off is the only reason for stopping the clock, the following conditions apply: 1. With one minute or more remaining in either half the play clock will be set at 25 seconds if the player is on offense and at 40 seconds if the player is on defense. The game clock will start on the referee’s signal. 2. If there is less than one minute in the half the opponent has the option of a 10-second subtraction. The play clock will be set at 25 seconds. If there is a 10-second subtraction the game clock will start on the referee’s signal. If there is no 10-second subtraction the game clock will start on the snap. The10-second subtraction may be avoided by the use of a team timeout, if available. © 2012 TASO Football Division Texas High Schools: Exception - No 40 sec clock and no 10- sec runoff

FOOTBALL  Language (New item 9) “c. If the ball carrier’s helmet comes off as in paragraph a (above) the ball is dead (Rule q). If the player is not the ball carrier the ball remains alive, but he must not continue to participate in the play beyond the immediate action in which he is engaged. Prolonged participation is a personal foul (Rule ). By definition such a player is obviously out of the play (Rule b). “ © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  Notes on para c: If the player who loses his helmet is already engaged in blocking or tackling, he can continue that action without fouling. Once he disengages, he must stop. If the player immediately retrieves his helmet, he can secure it and resume participating, but he will still have to sit out 1 play. If someone forcefully contacts the helmetless player, he is guilty of a foul for hitting a player who is obviously out of the play (but same provision applies re “continuing action” as noted above) © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  Language (New item 9) “d. A player who intentionally removes his helmet during the down commits a foul for unsportsmanlike conduct (Rule a-1-i). “ © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  Had to be added as part of the change in Rule 3 re helmetless player  Language (New item 17) “A player whose helmet comes completely off during a down may not continue to participate in the play beyond the immediate action in which he is engaged. “ © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  NCAA kickoffs will now be from the 35, not 30 © 2012 TASO Football Division Texas High Schools: Exception - Still KO from 40

FOOTBALL  Team A must stay within 5 yards of their restraining line prior to KO’s (prevents long running starts prior to kick)  Language: (New para b) “After the ball has been made ready for play all players on the kicking team except the kicker must be no more than five yards behind their restraining line. A player satisfies this rule when one foot is on or beyond the line five yards behind the restraining line. If one player is more than five yards behind the restraining line and any other player kicks the ball, it is a foul.” © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  PENALTY: 5 yards, live ball foul, illegal formation © 2012 TASO Football Division

From time RFP is blown until ball is kicked, all Team A players (except kicker) must have at least 1 foot in “the zone”.

FOOTBALL  Touchbacks on KO’s will now result in ball being brought out to the 25, not the 20.  Language: (New para b) “If the result of the play is a touchback (Rule 8-6) for Team B, they will put the ball in play at their 25.” © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  Kick catch interference protection is extended to Team B players even when ball has been kicked into the ground, causing ball to bounce up into the air.  Language: (New para e) “During a free kick a player of the receiving team in position to receive the ball has the same kick-catch and fair-catch protection whether the ball is kicked directly off the tee or is immediately driven to the ground, strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of the ball kicked directly off the tee. © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  The return of the “halo”, sort of.  Designed to create a more objective guideline to follow in kick catch interference situations  Language (New para a) “a. It is an interference foul if, before the receiver touches the ball, a Team A player enters the area defined by the width of the receiver’s shoulders and extending one yard in front of him. When in question it is a foul. “ © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL © 2012 TASO Football Division 22 1 yard Does not extend to side or behind the returner

FOOTBALL  Some modifications have been made to this rule for 2012  Best way to cover is to go through the entire rule from last year’s major change and highlight changes for this year.  REMEMBER: Intent is to significantly limit blocking below the waist © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  Definitional change at was made for the blocking below the waist rule  a For a stationary player or in motion at the snap, the adjacent sideline is the sideline to his outside  b For a player in motion who is effectively behind the snapper at the snap and it is not clear which is the sideline to his outside, the adjacent sideline is the sideline toward which he is moving. © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  There shall be no blocking below the waist (other than against the ball carrier) except as allowed below: a. Scrimmage Downs (NEW)1. Before a change of team possession a Team A player who is beyond the NZ may not block below the waist towards his own goal line. (When in question, block is directed toward his goal line) (NOTE: This applies to ALL Team A players, regardless of where they were at the snap) © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL a. Scrimmage Downs (cont) 2. Before a change of team possession, these Team A players are RESTRICTED with regard to blocking below the waist: a. A lineman more than 7 yards from middle lineman at the snap. b. A back aligned at the snap with the frame of his body completely outside the tackle box OR COMPLETELY OUTSIDE THE FRAME OF THE BODY OF THE 2D LINEMAN FROM THE SNAPPER IN EITHER DIRECTION TOWARD A SIDELINE. (Text in italics is NEW) “Modified tackle box” © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL a. Scrimmage Downs (cont) 2. Before a change of team possession, these Team A players are RESTRICTED with regard to blocking below the waist: NEW c. A back who is in motion at the snap and during this continuous motion was outside the area in b above any time after the ball was ready for play and before the snap. NOTE: A back is not restricted if he starts from a set position inside the area and during that continuous motion does not leave the area. © 2012 TASO Football Division

© 2012 TASO Football Division

© 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL a. Scrimmage Downs (cont) 3. Restricted players may not block below the waist IN ANY DIRECTION against a defender who is inside the tackle box or the “modified tackle box ”. (NEW) Outside the tackle box and “modified tackle box” the restricted player can block below the waist only towards his adjacent sideline, or toward the goal line he is attacking. (NEW) He can also block below the waist towards his own goal line if he is behind the NZ. © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL a. Scrimmage Downs (cont) 4. All other Team A players are Unrestricted and can block below the waist in any direction except when blocking back towards his own goal line when he is beyond the NZ. (NEW) (NEW) Unrestricted players include those in motion who start their motion from a set position inside tackle box or modified tackle box if they never leave that area while in motion. © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL NEXT DIAGRAM IS FOR BLOCKS THAT TAKE PLACE ON A DEFENDER WHO IS BEYOND THE NEUTRAL ZONE © 2012 TASO Football Division

=illegal =restricted players x =legal =unrestricted players OFFENSE ADJACENT SIDELINE ADJACENT SIDELINE TACKLE BOX = maybe illegal

FOOTBALL NEXT DIAGRAM IS FOR BLOCKS THAT TAKE PLACE ON A DEFENDER WHO IS BEHIND THE NEUTRAL ZONE © 2012 TASO Football Division

=illegal =restricted players x =legal =unrestricted players OFFENSE ADJACENT SIDELINE ADJACENT SIDELINE TACKLE BOX = maybe illegal

FOOTBALL NOTES: Any Team A player (restricted or unrestricted) who is BEYOND the neutral zone, MAY NOT block below the waist towards his own goal line The tackle box extends 5 yards either side of the snapper or to the 2d lineman from the snapper---WHICHEVER IS SHORTER Absolutely NO blocking below the waist in any direction by restricted players against opponents who are inside the tackle box. (Tackle box is only in and behind the NZ) © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL © 2012 TASO Football Division

© 2012 TASO Football Division

© 2012 TASO Football Division

© 2012 TASO Football Division

© 2012 TASO Football Division

© 2012 TASO Football Division

© 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL a. Scrimmage Downs (cont) NEW 5. Before a change of team possession Team B players may block below the waist only within an area defined by lines parallel to the goal line five yards either side of the NZ. Blocking by Team B outside this area is illegal. © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL a. Scrimmage Downs (cont) 6. Team B cannot block below the waist against an opponent who is in position to receive a backward pass. © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL a. Scrimmage Downs (cont) 7. Team B cannot block below the waist against an eligible receiver beyond the NZ unless trying to get to the ball or ball carrier. Prohibition ends when a legal fwd pass is no longer possible by rule. © 2012 TASO Football Division

unrestricted zone x OFFENSE DEFENSE

FOOTBALL  Reminders: b During a down where there is a free or scrimmage kick, blocking below the waist by any player is illegal except against ball carrier c After any change of team possession, all blocking below the waist is illegal except against the ball carrier © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  PENALTY: Personal foul, 15 yards © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL  Punt blockers are prohibited from trying to leap over the punter’s “personal protectors”.  Language (New para c) “c. No defensive player who is inside the tackle box may try to block a punt by leaving his feet in an attempt to leap directly over an opponent. 1. It is not a foul if the player tries to block the punt by jumping straight up without attempting to leap over the opponent. 2. It is not a foul if a player attempts to leap through or or over the gap between players. “ © 2012 TASO Football Division

FOOTBALL © 2012 TASO Football Division