No yards....

OK.. I know I should know this, but why is sometimes no yards is a 5 yard penilty and sometimes its a 15 yarder? Thanks...

if the ball bounces on the ground and rolls around first.. and the player does not give 5 yds.. it'll be 5yds.

if the ball does not bounce and the player catches it while the opposing player is within 5yds then it's 15yds.

if the player goes and grabs the ball on the ground instead of giving the 5yds, it is also 15yds.

Thanks.. I was wondering why at the Esk game there was a 15 yd no cards against Sask.. and the Esks only got 5 yds a couple times..

I've almost grown sick of the no yards call. I am almost ready to jump on the "eliminate the no yards penalty" bandwagon (that's right apparantly there's a bandwagon for this)

It happens so frequently. It is guaranteed to happen at least 3 times per game. Even worse than that, the refs are guaranteed to screw the call, either on a missed call or an incorrect call.

I know this is the CFL where we do't have a fair catch, but this no yards thing has become overkill for me.

Is there any other option? :?

I think the refs are way too liberal in their flag throwing for no yards - it appears that they anticipate the infraction. Unfortunately I see no options than getting better refs.

I recall an Edmonton game where even the anouncers said it should be no yards when the esks grabbed a ball that bounced off the returner. Upon replay the refs made the correct non call. So there is potential for the no yards to be done well and exciting.

If I was a coach playing a Chad Owens, I would tell my guys to take the no yards penalty and not risk the return.

I can see two options.

  1. Only call the penalty if the player actually interferes with the returner or the ball. If a player inside the five yards immediately backs away, no penalty.
  2. Make the penalty 15 yards in all cases. The cover teams will soon start to self-correct, and make sure they give six or seven yard.

I prefer the first option. I'm not totally convinced that the second options would actually work, although combined with the first, it might.

And make the call challengeable.

When the rule was changed back in the '70s to allow limited blocking on punt returns, Montreal used this strategy on almost every punt. Ironically, they had probably the most dangerous returner in the league at the time, Johnny Rodgers, but the other teams didn't seem to catch on to this, always afraid of being called for a five yard penalty and more often than not giving up way more than that on the return.

I'd definitely tell them to do this if it hits the ground. Not so sure if it's in the air and would earn fifteen yards. Then again, fifteen is better than fifty or more.

yea I always would consider making sure the ball bounces, and then take the damn 5 yards! as long as you prevent the guy from getting anywhere!

Riders don't do that.. heck, Blocking to them is a concept that they never grasp.

....make all kick returners wear a suspender supported 5 yard diameter hula-hoop....then defenders will know exactly where the boundary is...

When a ball is punted short, it's guaranteed to be no yards because the players are right beneath it.

yup, all part of the game I'm afraid.

The only thing that bugs me about the no yards call is when the ball bounces back towards the defender, then they are backing up, pretty hard to run forward, back up, then try to tackle the guy with the ball.. And I have seen the guy back peddle to get away from the ball, and still take a penelty.. That is a rule that needs to be changed, if its obvious you are trying to avoid the no-yards, then it shouldnt be a call.

well, that is when you just say "forget about the 5yds and stop him from getting anywhere,

It's part of the game but still better that the fair catch. I'll take no yards penalties over fair catch any day.

No Yards is and (always?) has been part of the game. But it has been tweaked a number of times over the years. I'd just like it to be tweaked a bit more, that's all, so that it's only called if a player inside the five-yard zone prevents the returner from catching the ball and starting his return. And in the end, hasn't that always been the point of the rule?

if it was at you say, then they could run at the returner to destract him without touching him, hoping to cause a fumble. I thing the no yards as it is except the refs should be able to use their judgement and not call the penalty if he beleives the every member of the cover team is making all reasonable efforst to back away.

So how exactly is this different from what I have suggested? I'm saying that there's no penalty if a player inside five yards avoids interfering with the returner (i.e prevents the returner from catching the ball and starting his return). You're saying that there's no penalty if a player inside five yards backs away from the returner. Note that "interfering" does not necessarily mean contact. It could mean standing in the way of the returner, in any direction, or it could just be distracting the returner, for example, by charging at him and veering away at the last second. There's already a similar rule to this under offside, preventing a defensive player from making a sudden move towards the line of scrimmage in an attempt to make an o-lineman jump.

Note, I'm also suggesting that No Yards always be a 15 yard penalty. I'm now suggesting (just thought of it, actually) that contact with the returner before the ball arrives be considered unsportsmanlike conduct, and could get 25 yards if deemed intentional or avoidable, the same as any other illegal hit. (The returner deliberately leaping into the coverage player would go the other way unless playing the ball.)

whenever I returned punts in flag or touch football, I always hung back so that I could catch the ball on the run. It also caused the cover guys to get to close to the ball when I caught it so that if I dropped it, which was rare, then it was always no yards. I never let the ball hit the ground first, unless it was a really bad short punt. I never understand when I see a fairly well kicked ball bounce in front of the returner. With the hang time pro kickers usually get, I think there is no excuse for letting the ball hit the ground and that 5 yd no yards should be a rare occurance.

since many no yards calls are officials judgement when at an angle other than northsouth, I would like the see the refs give the cover team the benifit of the doubt and only call it when its clear to anyone watching that they are well inside the 5 yard zone. I think this alone would cut down a lot of penalties.