Football 101: Defensive Penalty Hand Signals and What They Mean
Knowing what the referees are doing when they are flashing hand signals is a big part of knowing the game of football. In this guide we’ll take a look at the hand signals for defensive penalties and what they mean.
Offside
If a defender crosses over the line of scrimmage and doesn’t get back to his side of the ball prior to the snap, he’s guilty of being offside (indicated by the official putting both hands on his hips). As long as no contact has been made by the defense, the action continues as a free play for the offense. After the play expires, the offense is given a choice to accept a 5-yard penalty from the spot of the original line of scrimmage and replay the down, or accept the result of the play.
Defenders can also be called for neutral zone infractions, meaning simply that they lined up in the neutral zone prior to the ball snap. This carries the same penalty and is treated the same as an offside call.
Encroachment
This is similar to offside (the signal is the same), except the play is blown dead before the snap, disallowing the offense from having a free play. Officials rule an encroachment if either contact has been made between a defender and an offensive player before the snap, or if a defender crossing the line is ruled to be unabated to the quarterback, meaning the quarterback is at risk of danger on a dead ball. This results in a 5-yard penalty.
Hands to the Face
Due to the increase in the number of concussions players suffer on the field, defenders are penalized for making contact with any part of an offensive player’s helmet, either when trying to tackle or in this case, just jamming a hand or a fist into the player’s helmet or facemask. The official signals this by putting an open fist under his chin. All defenders can be flagged for hands to the face. It carries a 5-yard penalty and an automatic first down.
Spearing
No player may use the crown, or top, of his helmet as a weapon when tackling another player. This is called spearing, and it carries a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down. The official signals this with a personal foul call.
Horse Collar
If a defender reaches inside a player’s shoulder pad area and uses it as a handle to bring down the player from behind, it’s ruled a horse collar tackle, and the offense is awarded 15 yards. The official grabs the inside of his shirt to illustrate this call.
Delay of Game
Defenders can draw a delay of game penalty if the game official determines the defender’s intent is to kill time on the clock and slow down the offense. It carries a 5-yard penalty. The official signals this by folding his arms in front of his body. Sometimes laying on a tackled ball carrier while the clock is running draws this call, or if a defender kicks, spikes, or throws the football unnecessarily.
Tripping
Defenders tend to resort to tripping when they fail to get into the right position to make a tackle on the ball carrier, or when a smaller defender is out-manned by a larger offensive player. This results in a 10-yard penalty from the end of the run and an automatic first down. To signal this, the official stands on one leg while using the other to illustrate a tripping motion.
Holding
As is true of offensive players, defensive players aren’t allowed to hold. If a game official rules that a defender was trying to prevent an offensive player without the ball from advancing by grabbing hold of that player, a 5-yard holding call and an automatic first down result.
The most common variety of defensive holding is when defenders hold receivers on passing plays to prevent them from catching the football, but defensive linemen can even be guilty of holding offensive linemen on their way to make a block downfield. The official holds one arm with a closed fist against his body with the arm grasping the wrist.
Illegal Contact
This is most commonly called on defenders trying to cover a receiver on a passing play. NFL rules state that a defender can make reasonable contact with the offensive player within the first 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, but after that, no contact is permitted, whether that player is the intended receiver or not. Same as defensive holding, this carries a 5-yard penalty and an automatic first down. The official shows this by pushing one palm out in front of his body.
Pass Interference
This can be a devastating call for the defense, especially at the professional level where the ball is placed at the spot the interference took place. This means that the penalty has almost no limit as to the number of yards the offense can gain. At the high school and college levels, the penalty is far less severe (15 yards).
Game officials flag a defender when they feel he has interfered with the offensive player’s ability to catch the ball. The primary difference between pass interference and defensive holding or illegal contact is that an interference call is made only after the ball is in the air. If the call is made before the pass is thrown, the ruling is one of the other two varieties. The signal for this is one fans dread seeing: the official pushes both palms out away from his body.
Even though pass interference calls often can play a role in the outcome of a game, they’re not eligible for review by instant replay because they are deemed judgment calls.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct
By holding both arms out to each side of his body, parallel to the ground, the game official has signaled that a defender has committed an unsportsmanlike act. This call is often reserved for noncontact acts, such as arguing with an official or doing a celebratory dance the league has deemed inappropriate. For this, the defense is flagged 15 yards and the offense is awarded an automatic first down.
Taunting
Taunting is a form of unsportsmanlike conduct when a defender in some way demoralizes an offensive player, either verbally or through an act (usually after delivering a vicious hit), or otherwise embarrassing the offensive player in some way. The NFL has put an emphasis on eliminating unnecessary showboating from its players. Officials use the unsportsmanlike conduct signal for this call.
Personal Foul
Every personal foul the defense commits gives the offense an additional 15 yards and an automatic first down. The official shows this by holding one arm out, head high, and striking it with a chopping motion using the other arm. Usually these are penalties of frustration or poor judgment. Regardless, personal foul calls are killers for the defense.
A game official first signals that a personal foul has occurred and then offers details as to the type of infraction.
The penalties in the following sections are all considered personal fouls.
Facemask
Anytime a player grabs hold of an opponent’s facemask, a 15-yard penalty results. NFL game officials used to have two varieties of facemask penalties—those severe enough to warrant a 15-yard penalty and incidental face masks that carried only a 5-yard penalty. Now every facemask violation is worth 15 yards. The official makes a motion of grasping his invisible facemask to illustrate this call.
Unnecessary Roughness
A number of actions could draw an unnecessary roughness call, but usually defenders get flagged for making contact after the play stops. When a ball carrier is hit after he has already stepped out of bounds, an official may feel the defender had an opportunity to pull up but hit the ball carrier late anyway. Officials use the personal foul signal to illustrate this call.
Roughing the Passer
This call is another variety of unnecessary roughness. Football rules have been changed in recent years to better protect the quarterback. If the game official watching the quarterback believes a defender has hit the passer unnecessarily anytime after the passer has thrown the ball, he’ll flag the defender for roughing. After giving the personal foul signal, the official makes a slashing motion with one hand in front of his body to signal this call.
Now that you know what the hand signals mean, you’ll have more fun watching your next game. For more information on football rules, check out our Quick Guides Football 101: General Hand Signals and What They Mean and Football 101: Offensive Penalty Hand Signals and What They Mean. Enjoy the game!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Football by Mike Beacom
