There are many categories and iterations of infractions enforced by NFL officials, but penalties come in only five different increments. Four of them are easy to understand — five yards, 10 yards, 15 yards, and spot fouls.
But what about half the distance? How do NFL officials determine when half the distance is proper enforcement for penalties?
Here’s a look at the rule.
The NFL’s Half the Distance Enforcement, Explained
The NFL assigns yardage penalties to each type of infraction. A holding penalty results in a 10-yard penalty from the spot of the foul, for instance. A false start, illegal motion, or illegal shift is a five-yard penalty from the original line of scrimmage.
Sometimes, though, the designated yardage for a foul isn’t suitable. It might not be mathematically possible, such as when the offense commits a holding penalty on its own 6-yard line. Or it might be too punitive, such as when the defense commits a personal foul face mask against the offense on its own 17-yard line.
The half-the-distance enforcement application is explained under the ‘Special Enforcement for Penalties’ section of the NFL rule book where — in Rule 14, Section 2, Article 1 — it states:
- If the enforcement of a distance penalty would move the ball more than half the distance from the spot of enforcement to the offender’s goal line, the penalty shall be half the distance from the spot of enforcement to its goal line. This general rule supersedes any other general or specific enforcement of a distance penalty.
As an example, if the offense has the ball inside its own 10-yard line and is penalized for holding, then enforcement of that foul would be half the distance from the point of the foul because a 10-yard penalty at that point would result in the ball being spotted inside the offense’s end zone, which is obviously not possible.
Exceptions to Half the Distance Enforcement
While the Special Enforcement for Penalties section of the rule book states the general rule supersedes any other general or specific enforcement of a distance penalty, it also identifies two exceptions.
Those exceptions are:
- Rule 8, Section 2, Article 1 for enforcement of intentional grounding.
- Rule 12, Section 3, Article 4 for enforcement of a palpably unfair act.