“They could call holding on every play” is a phrase which may in fact be as old as the game itself.  I’m sure that ever since officials started carrying flags to throw, fans and coaches alike have been screaming for them to let loose with a holding call on every defensive snap.

When I started this series, a major motivation was the fact that my enjoyment of the game increased immensely the more I learned about how it was played and officiated.  Nothing has improved my understanding of the game more than figuring out holding, and there was one play during the ODU game this past weekend which got me really excited to write about it (yeah, you get amped up about weird things when you’re a football official, but bear with me here).

I’ll get into the specifics of the play in a bit, but first I want to break down the rule and philosophy of holding.

Let’s start with the rule.  Actually, rules, as there are different rules for offense and defense (and kick teams, as a matter of fact, but those all basically state that kicking team players are allowed to use their hands to get off blocks):

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