From roughly 15 minutes into the 2023 football season, I was convinced of one thing: there was no way in [string of expletives] that I would ever cover targeting in one of my articles. It just seemed so random why some infractions were called, others were overturned, and still others were ignored entirely.

I stood fast to that conviction through 10 weeks – bending only slightly to cover a reviewed-but-not-confirmed call against BC. Although I have been keeping a folder of targeting clips for just this occasion.

It honestly created a bit of an existential crisis for me. I just couldn’t figure it out. I simply never seemed to get it right when watching games live – every time I thought for sure there was a target, the “there was no foul” announcement was promptly made. Any time I thought surely that couldn’t be ruled “forcible contact,” an ejection was soon to follow.

I think I generally have a pretty good handle on what constitutes holding, pass interference, a block in the back, etc. (based on the comments from throughout the season, I’d consider it a personal favor if a few of you would just let me have this one). But targeting? Nope. Am I just that bad of a back judge that the enforcement of this one rule would forever elude me?

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