Loss Or Fifteen Yards

Failure of substitute to report to Referee or Umpire; illegal return to game; player leaving field during one-minute intermissions; interference with a fair catch; throwing player who has made fair catch; pushing, pulling, interlocked interference, etc. (It should be borne in mind in connection with this rule that the player with the ball may place his hand on a team mate but not take hold so as to be pulled along. Nor can any of his own side drag him to his feet that he may get under way again); holding by side in possession of the ball. (There are four "dont's" the violation of which bring about the infliction of the penalty. They are: grasping an opponent with the hands or arms, placing the hands upon an opponent to push him away from the play, encircling in any degree any part of an opponent with the arm, and, using the arms in any way to lift an opponent in blocking. It is of the utmost importance that the spectator remember these, for the holding penalty is one most frequently inflicted); forward pass by side not putting ball in play; piling up; hurdling; tripping; tackling out of bounds, etc.; sideline coaching; persons on field without permission of officials; more than one person walking on sidelines.

So often does one hear the cry of "hurdling" from the grandstand, and so seldom is the hurdling penalty imposed immediately thereafter, that it is well worth while getting an accurate idea once for all of what hurdling as the officials understand it, really is. The rule offers no definition, but hurdling in football is like hurdling on the track, a deliberate attempt to clear an obstacle by leaping when in full stride with the knee of the leg in advance well up, and quitting the stride for an instant for that purpose. In other words, hurdling in football is not striding or running over the bodies of prostrate opponents. Furthermore a player on one knee may be hurdled without penalty. Hurdling in football is extremely rare nowadays.

Loss Of Twenty-Five Yards

Team not ready to play at start of second half.

Loss Of Half Distance To Goal Line

Player disqualified for striking, kneeing, kicking, etc.; foul within the one-yard line. (This last is to prevent the inflicting of the customary penalty carrying the ball across the goal hue.)

These are all the distance penalties, and with a little application they may be learned without delving too deeply into the verbiage of the complete rules. There remain, however, other important penalties, as follows:

Loss Of A Down

Interference by side making a forward pass prior to a fourth down; illegal forward pass prior to a fourth down; forward pass striking ground prior to a fourth down; (it is interesting to note here something that may puzzle the spectator. He will see a player run back some distance preparatory to making a forward pass, only to find all his men covered, or the defense through on him so fast that he cannot be sure of making a good pass, then throw the ball to the ground only a few feet in front of him. There is no cure in the rules for this. The passer simply accepts the penalty of a down deliberately rather than lose a great deal of distance in the event of being tackled, or risk making a wild fling. It is undoubtedly against the spirit of the forward pass rule, as it nullifies excellent work on the part of the defense, but is not against the letter.)

Loss Of Ball

Ball kicked out of bounds unless touched by a player entitled to touch it, in which case it goes to the player first recovering it out of bounds; interference by side making forward pass on fourth down; backward pass, out of bounds, on fourth down; illegal or incomplete forward pass on fourth down; if forward pass be illegally recovered or touched by passer's side; forward pass out of bounds on the fly; batting the ball; offside player touching hall; kicker recovering ball.

Suspension

Illegal return to game (this is of course an individual penalty, the team itself being penalized fifteen yards as mentioned above); illegal equipment; unsportsmanlike conduct. (Herein there is wide discretion. The idea of the penalty is to prevent the use of abusive and insulting language to players or officials and also prevent such a maneuver as that employed by Carlisle against Harvard some years ago when an Indian ran the length of the field for a touchdown with the ball concealed under his jersey.)

Disqualification

This is the individual penalty for striking, kneeing, kicking, etc., that goes with the team penalty of half the distance to the goal line, roughing the fullback. (The term "fullback" is here used to indicate the kicker. Since the kicker under the rules cannot run down the field and put his own men onside, or recover the ball himself, it follows that roughing him is sheer wanton "muckerism" which should be punished by the harshest individual penalty in the code.)