An admission: I love football.  It is undoubtably my favorite.  My Dad played Div 1 college football, and we watched and were taught the game when we were very young.   I remember being mesmerized, watching whole games start to finish, when I was 5.

It is also a very complex sport, with many rules and penalties, especially considering the concept is so simple: get the ball in the end zone!

So my question today is about a penalty: “holding”.  I think most of us know the universal signal, one hand grasps the wrist of the other arm held in a vertical position. Holding does indeed mean “holding”; grasping or grabbing an opponent and impeding their progress.  First of all, there are 2 major variations of this penalty: offensive holding and defensive holding.  Interpretations of offensive holding have changed over the years, and one could write forever on its history of changes, and why on earth offensive lineman can now hold when their hands are inside the shoulders of the opponents but not the outside, but that’s not what this article is about.  I really want to discuss defensive holding, when a defensive player grabs or holds an offensive player (or his jersey) in an attempt to impede his progress.  Note that you can impede his progress by contact (“hitting”) the player in certain areas of the field (near the line of scrimmage) and you can hold and tackle a back who took a fake handoff.   But it’s not the interpretation of holding that is the subject I’d like to examine, it’s the penalty.

The penalty for defensive holding is 5 yards, and an automatic first down.  The penalty yardage is the same as a minor penalty, like offsides or illegal procedure.  The severe part of the penalty is the automatic first down.  So, let’s say the defense sacks the quarterback 3 times on the first 3 downs. It’s now 4^th down and 35 yards, maybe late in the game so the offsensive team must go for it….and a defensive player makes a subtle grab of the jersey of an offensive player, perhaps near the line of scrimmage. The flag flies, and the results of the previous 3 downs are essentially negated and the offensive team gets a first down.   3 great plays by the defense undone by an innocuous jersey grab. The offense essentially gets 3 extra downs.   Of course the holding could have been more severe, holding  a receiver farther down the field, but you get my point. But also note that I’ve seen the penalty called on a defensive lineman on the line of scrimmage, so nothing to do with holding a receiver.  I understand the automatic first down on severe penalties, personal fouls, unnecessary roughness, but why does it make sense here? Where it is essentially a technical rules violation. Offensive holding is 10 yards (or 10 from the point of the infraction), and repeat the down.  Why isn’t defensive holding similar?

I understand what the rule is trying to prevent.  In a 3^rd or 4^th and long, they are trying to prevent the defense from intentionally holding. Is it working?  (NO)  I saw a game a few years ago where the team with the ball was down 2 scores with time running out.   They were around the winning team’s 25 yard line.  They needed a quick score and an onsides kick.  So you know what the defensive did?  The simply grabbed the receivers, intentionally.  5 yard penalty, but time came off the clock on each play.   They did it 4 straight times, until there were only a few seconds left.  Good coaching….or stupid rule?

A close cousin to defensive holding is the “illegal contact” rule.  This is contact with a receiver more than 5 yards downfield.   Another “technical” foul, 5 yard penalty.  But guess what?  Automatic first down. What makes this even worse is that this penalty is often very subjective; did the receiver run into the defensive back or linebacker, or did the defensive player run into the receiver?  Was it incidental contact, or contact that impeded? Regardless, one could call this penalty, in light of the 8^th Amendment to the US Constitution, “cruel and unusual punishment”.

Here’s a suggestion for both penalties: 10 yard penalty (just like offensive holding), and repeat the down (unless the 10 yards results in a first down). I would also suggest that if defensive holding on a receiver is more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, have it enforced at the point of infraction.  In most cases teams will still get a first down, but not always, if the defensive had a terrific play and posted a loss the previous play or plays.  Thus, downfield holding of the receiver to prevent a reception is treated much like pass interference, which it essentially is.      

Make sense?   Too much sense?  There’s many other odd football rules, and even more pressing matters to examine in my favorite sport, but this is easy pickings.   Will it ever change?  The NFL has been very good about responding to inequities and out dated rules, so it’s possible.   In fact, there’s big rule change this year with the kickoff.  Very curious how that will work out!