Defensive Holding | NFL Football Operations (2024)

FAQs

What is defensive holding in football? ›

DEFENSIVE HOLDING. It is a foul for defensive holding if: a defensive player tackles or holds any opponent other than a runner, except as permitted in Article 5.

The only high school fouls that result in an automatic first down for the offense are the roughing fouls - roughing the passer, the kicker, the holder and the long snapper. Fouls such as defensive pass interference or any other personal foul do not bring an automatic first down under high school rules.

In Gridiron football, a completion or completed pass occurs when an eligible receiver (usually a wide receiver, tight end or running back) successfully catches a forward pass thrown by the quarterback without the ball touching the ground.

Note: If a defender contacts a receiver within the five-yard zone and maintains contact with him, he must release the receiver as they exit the five-yard zone. If the defender maintains contact beyond five yards, it is illegal contact.

Holding is just any time you use your hands or arms to restrict lateral movement of a player. Examples include holding jerseys/limbs, hooking somebody with an outstretched arm, and dragging someone to the ground. If you have to pull somebody to obstruct them, chances are it's holding.

In football, a holding penalty may be called a spot foul in certain situations, but in others, the penalty will be assessed from the line of scrimmage.

The NFHS made the rule change to maintain balance between offense and defense. The rules revision says that the spot for enforcement of fouls behind the line of scrimmage — such as a holding penalty — is enforced from the previous spot, rather than the spot of the foul.

Holding on an eligible receiver before the pass is thrown is a 5 yard penalty, with an automatic first down.

Essentially, blocking is pushing, with certain restrictions; in blocking one may not grasp another player or do any sort of pulling, and the hands must not extend beyond the line of each armpit; otherwise a holding penalty will be assessed.

Yes - only happens rarely (usually as the result of a ball being batted/deflected back to the passer after he throws it), but it's not unknown.

Can you hit a receiver before he catches the ball? ›

Pass interference is called if the defensive player contacts the offensive player while he is trying to catch the pass, unless the defender has turned his head to face the oncoming pass and is attempting to intercept it. Accidental, glancing contact is not penalized.

If the ball, whether in player possession or loose, crosses the line of scrimmage, a forward pass is not permissible, regardless of whether the ball returns behind the line of scrimmage before the pass is thrown.

The Official Point of View

The only time you can have illegal contact within five yards is if the defender chucks the receiver in the back or a second chuck. One defender can't chuck a receiver at two yards, separate, and chuck him again at four yards, because that would also be illegal contact.

A holding penalty used to be 15-yards, from the spot of the foul. So, if the offense held five yards behind the line of scrimmage, the hold actually was a 20-yard penalty!

Defensive holding will remain a 10-yard penalty but will always carry an automatic first down. The replay official will address any clock adjustment and status only when a ruling is overturned with less than two minutes in the 2nd or 4th quarter.

So what is defensive holding? Holding is different to pass interference, because it occurs before the ball has been thrown by a quarterback. This penalty happens most often at the line of scrimmage just after the ball has been snapped.

Now a defender can legally bump or redirect an eligible receiver within five yards of the line of scrimmage, but they're not allowed to maintain contact past that five yard zone or grab & hold on to the receiver in the NFL. If they do, it's a penalty for illegal contact.

On the offensive end, a team would decline a defensive holding call if the result of the play gets them further down the field than the penalty would. A pass interference call would be declined if the receiver catches the pass regardless of the penalty and advances the ball farther from where the foul was committed.