Okay, so today I wanted to mess around with something I saw in an NFL game the other day – the football face mask penalty. I’ve seen it called a bunch of times, but I wanted to really understand what counts and what doesn’t. I’m a visual learner, so I figured the best way was to try it out myself.
Getting Started
First, I grabbed my old football helmet. I don’t play anymore, The helmet’s been gathering dust, so it was perfect for this. I also enlisted my buddy Mark – needed someone to be the “offender,”.
The Experiment
- I put on the helmet. Felt weird after all these years!
- Mark then tried different ways of grabbing the face mask. We started slow, just to get a feel for it.
- We focused on the rule: you can’t grab and twist, turn, or pull. A quick touch? Probably okay. Anything more? Penalty.
- First few times with a light touch, then gradually try to twist, turn, or pull to see what exactly the penalty.
My “Findings”
It’s way easier to see (and feel) the difference when you’re actually doing it.
A simple touch is much different with a clear grab and twist.
It is also much more dangerous if there is a turn or pull action.
So, that was my little experiment for the day. I am not sure how the players feel, but hope this will let me have a basic understanding about the penalty.
