How to Signal Facemask & Illegal Motion in Football

Video Transcript

Hello, my name is Brian Currier and I'm here on behalf of Expert Village. I'm here to talk about football penalties and the hand signals the officials give to indicate the penalties. A number of penalties have different rules associated with them depending upon the level of football you're talking about, whether it's High School, College, or the NFL. As much as possible, we'll indicate where those differences are. By rule, players are not permitted to grab the facemask of their opponents. If a player does touch or grab the facemask in a manner that is considered non-flagrant or otherwise accidental, the penalty assessed is five yards. The symbol for face masking is (video demo, hand moving up and down in front of face). By rule, the offense must be set for at least one count before the ball is snapped unless a player is legally in motion. Legal motion involves movement parallel to the line of scrimmage and is often used to try and confuse the defense. Illegal motion occurs when the back receiver in legal motion moves toward the line of scrimmage before the ball snap, when a lineman breaks his stance, or when two or more receivers or backs are in motion at the time of the snap. The signal for illegal motion is (video demo, moving arms in circular motion around each other).

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