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Facemask vs hands to the face vs stiff arm and penalties


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In my opinion, anytime a player grabs another player's face mask, it should be a penalty. I see this repeatedly in almost every game I watch and it drives me crazy. I don't understand why the rules are not more clear on this issue.

For instance, consider these three scenarios:

Scenario #1: Defensive player grabs a player's face mask and pulls him to the ground. Obvious penalty to everyone and rightly so, 15 yards stepped off against the defense.

Scenario #2: Offensive lineman engages the defensive tackle at the snap of the ball. His right hand is on the bottom of the DT's facemask and he proceeds to push upwards on the bottom of the face mask nearly ripping his helmet off. See this ALL the time and it rarely ever gets called. Shouldn't this be flagged as "hands to the face" ? Saw it at least 5-6 times in tonight's game and it didn't get called even once. What gives? Ref's just not see it? Didn't think it was severe enough to flag? Someone please educate me on this.

Scenario #3: Defensive player has perfect angle on the ball carrier. As the defensive player is approaching, the ball carrier extends his arm and delivers a "stiff arm" by striking the defensive player in the face mask thrusting his head up and backwards. While not as severe as Scenario #1, how is this allowed and not a penalty? The only difference is they don't drag anyone to the ground. What is the thought process behind allowing this but not allowing hands to the face or grabbing the facemask? And if this was not bad enough, I have seen ball carriers actually grab a defensive players facemask while delivering a stiff arm yet they almost never get flagged for it. Why is the rule different for ball carriers than it is for tackers?

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