Thanks for the explanation fren, just reinforces why I never cared about football all the more though. From an outsiders perspective who only played the odd pickup game during recess and childhood group meetings, I never had the full rule set and never bothered to look them up.
Pass interference is one of those rules that from the outside just seems stupid as hell. If defences goal is to keep the offence from scoring or making yards, preventing a receiver from getting the ball in the first place seems to be the best way to accomplish that. Is the rule seriously that you have to LET the designated receivers catch the ball and THEN you can hit him, but you can’t prevent him from getting the ball in the first place?
Sort of, as soon as the ball is there the defender can try to catch the ball or knock it down and tackle the receiver, and they can bump him once within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. And the defender can get in the way, the receiver can't push the defender out of the way, that's a different penalty, offensive pass interference.
The rules used to be different, only holding the receiver was interference, they could bump each other all they wanted, and tackle him within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage as long as they let him get back up. They switched that to bumping, then shortened the distance to 10 yards, and now 5 yards.
Thanks for the explanation fren, just reinforces why I never cared about football all the more though. From an outsiders perspective who only played the odd pickup game during recess and childhood group meetings, I never had the full rule set and never bothered to look them up. Pass interference is one of those rules that from the outside just seems stupid as hell. If defences goal is to keep the offence from scoring or making yards, preventing a receiver from getting the ball in the first place seems to be the best way to accomplish that. Is the rule seriously that you have to LET the designated receivers catch the ball and THEN you can hit him, but you can’t prevent him from getting the ball in the first place?
You can prevent them from catching the ball.
Knocking the ball away is one way.
Catching the ball yourself (interception) is another way.
Grabbing the helmet, jersey or shoulder pads to stop them is not allowed.
Timing your hit with the catch used to be allowed but now can be flagged as targeting.
In any event, it's rigged, just like soccer, hockey, basketball, and other sports are.
Thanks. All the more reason to ditch professional sports and do something productive with the time instead.
Sort of, as soon as the ball is there the defender can try to catch the ball or knock it down and tackle the receiver, and they can bump him once within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. And the defender can get in the way, the receiver can't push the defender out of the way, that's a different penalty, offensive pass interference.
The rules used to be different, only holding the receiver was interference, they could bump each other all they wanted, and tackle him within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage as long as they let him get back up. They switched that to bumping, then shortened the distance to 10 yards, and now 5 yards.
Nothing like constantly changing rules to piss everyone off.