by Jim Briggs
Fans who watch the game carefully both on TV and by going to games will have noticed that there are a number of subtle differences between the rules of the NFL games we see on TV and the rules British teams play by. The reason for this is part historical accident, part design, and results from the divergence of the rules by which the three major football organisations in the USA (NFL, National Collegiate Athletic Association and National Federation of High School Athletics Associations) play.
In Britain we play by what are basically the US college rules. This was due originally to the fact that these are the rules used in the US Air Force games played in this country, but they have come into widespread use where the game has grown up elsewhere in Europe and also in Japan and Australia. Thus they are the nearest thing to a common worldwide set of rules. They can be seen as a compromise between very much safety-oriented rules of the High School Federation and the entertainment-inspired rules that the pros use.
You may have seen players in the NFL slip or fall to the ground and then get up again and run with the ball. This is because NFL rules state that the play only ends if the ball carrier is knocked to the ground by an opponent. This is often referred to as "down by contact". For safety reasons, college rules and hence British rules say that when the ball carrier is down he should stay down, so the ball is always dead in this case, even if the runner falls down without being touched.
A common cause of confusion is the rule about whether a pass is complete or not when it is caught near the sideline. Our rule is straightforward: if the receiver catches the ball while he is airborne, as long as his first contact with the ground is in bounds then the pass is complete. If his foot comes down on or outside the sideline (the sideline is out of bounds) then it is incomplete. The NFL officials have a much more difficult judgement to make because they have to check whether the receiver gets either both feet in bounds or that he first touches the ground with some other part of his body, for example his knee. This is the origin of the phrase "one knee equals two feet" which was used by the television commentator John Madden as the title of a book.
There is an important difference in the contact that is allowed between a receiver and defender before a pass is thrown. In the NFL, the defender is only allowed to "bump" the receiver once and that must take place within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. In our rules, the defender is allowed to bump the receiver any number of times and in any place. The only restriction is that the defender is not allowed to block once the receiver has got alongside or deeper downfield than him.
A number of fouls have different penalties in the NFL and British rulebooks. For example illegal contact or holding by the defense is only penalised 5 yards in the NFL but is 10 yards in Britain. Pass interference by the offense is 10 yards in the NFL, 15 yards in Britain. Having twelve men on the field is something we penalise by 15 yards but the NFL only by 5. The spots on the field where the penalties are marched from also differ in some cases. When combinations of penalties occur on the same down, the NFL has a number of complicated rules as to which take precedence. We keep things simple: if both teams foul and there is no change of possession we scrap the whole play and redo it from scratch.
Once the referee declares the ball ready for play by blowing his whistle, teams in Britain have 25 seconds to put the ball into play. In the NFL they either have 30 seconds, or else 40 seconds from the time the last play ended. The way in which the game clocks are operated is also different. The NFL does not stop the clock while the chains are moved as we do, and starts it again once the ball is ready for play after it has gone out of bounds. The NFL also has a complicated set of rules regarding the two-minute warning which we do not.
There are a vast number of other minor rules differences. For example in the NFL, linemen can become receivers by informing the referee of their change of status; college rules do not permit this. The NFL has a rarely used rule that allows a free attempt at a field goal after a fair catch, we don't. The requirements for a legal offensive formation are slightly different in the two codes, and, on a punt, only two NFL kicking team members are allowed downfield before the ball is kicked - we allow any number to go.
I hope that you find this information interesting and that it helps you to enjoy this great game even more.
Jim Briggs is a member of the British American Football Officials' Association (BAFRA) and has been officiating football since 1984. His officiating credits include four British finals and two EuroBowls.