Common Rules & Penalties

So there is this book. I call it it The Most Boring and Outright Ridiculous Book of Crap. Others call it the NFL Rulebook.
I cut and pasted it into Microsoft Word for a little light researching one day. It was over 24 pages long. Single spaced. I lost interest after the table of contents. So instead, I will just give you a few of the most common.

For even more rules, head to NFL Rules at Football.com

One quick thing before I dig into this. Sometimes after a foul you hear the refs say
“The Penalty is declined.”
I never could understand that!  If the other team f’ed up, don’t you want them punished? Here’s the deal: For every foul–rule breaking–there is a penalty attached to it. When there is a foul called on one team, the other team has the option of accepting or declining the resulting penalty. For example, let’s say it’s third down and the Cardinals are on the 50 yard line. The Steelers rough up Cardinals QB Kurt Warner and gets a roughing the passer call. That’s a no-no and they would get a 5 yard penalty—meaning the Cardinals get to move 5 yards closer to the goal and get to redo the 3rd down.
Great! Who would decline that? You avenge your QB and move closer to scoring!
Well, see, sure he got beat up BUT on the same play, Kurt Warner completed an amazing pass 15 yards down the field to Larry Fitzgerald.

• If they accept the penalty they would be on the 45 yard line but it would be third down.
• If they decline the penalty, they would be  on the 35 yard line and it would be first down.

Does that help at all? If not feel free to email me for more details. Or go look it up somewhere else!
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Penalties:

Against the offense: the yardage is now attached to their original goal. Meaning if they were first and ten and got a five yard penalty, they are now first (or second) and 15.
Against the defense: the yaradge is now taken away from the offense’s original goal—or they get to move farther down the field.

Holding (offense or sefense): 10 yard penalty
Literally holds the other player so he can’t move, block a play, catch a pass.
Pass Interference (defensive, usually): Automatic first down.
The defense touches, tackles or in any way impedes an offensive intended receiver from receiving a catchable pass before the ball has not yet been touched by any other player. If the ball has been touched—all players are fair game!
False start (offensive) 5 yard penalty
Once the players are in position on the line of scrimmage, the offense is not allowed to move or “fake out” the defense until the ball is snapped. If they do, they get a false start. If they were first and ten before the foul, they would now be first and 15.
Offsides (offensive or defensive) 10 yards, automatic first down.
Each play the players form the line of scrimmage with offensive line on one side and defensive line on the other. The space between the two lines is the neutral zone and any player that enters that zone before the ball is “snapped’ is offsides.
Encroachment (defensive) 5 yard penalty.
Same as offsides but the defensive player has contact with the offensive player before the start.
Intentional Grounding (offensive): 10 yard penalty and loss of down.
When a quarterback gets scared is about to be sacked, sometimes he tries to throw the ball away so no one else gets it–without an intended receiver in the area. I have no idea why this is a no-no.  But its not so good. If they were first and ten, now they are second and 20. This helps QBs suck it up, be a man and run the damn ball themselves. Big Babies.
Roughing the passer and roughing the kickers: (defensive) 15 yard penalty
Do not get me started on this. This is when a defensive player makes contact with the quarterback or kicker after the ball has been thrown or kicked.
Face mask (offensive or defensive): 5 yard penalty.
Dangerous play where the opposing player grabs the facemask of the opposing player to stop him
Ineligible receiver (offensive): 5 yard penatly.
Offensive lineman are not allowed to catch passes. Why? No idea. But they are supposed to only be there for decoration to block.  If they do catch the ball, there is a penalty.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct (offensive or defensive): 15 yard penalty.
Taunting, gesturing, abusive language, making snow angels, celebrating too damn hard……This is a very vague rule. Needs to be explored!
NFL Rules at Football.com
From Super Bowl XLIII
Chop block (defensive): 15 yard penatly
tackle from behind, and hits them below the knee