As I mentioned in my introductory column last week, part of the reason for my decision to peel back the curtain and offer a look into the world of officiating is to clear up the many rules misconceptions that take place on local sidelines during the course of any given sports season.

That’s especially the case with football, where fans are forced to not only decipher three different sets of rules between the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the NCAA and the NFL, but also, quite bluntly, must overcome a wealth of bad information spread by television broadcasters who are commenting on these games.

Many times the talking heads don’t know the rules, and therefore, fans are given information that sometimes is not entirely correct, and other times, is just flat-out wrong. Then these fans go watch their children or grandchildren during a Friday night high school game, or a Saturday youth football game, and fail to understand why the guys in stripes rule a certain way.

I experienced it first-hand this past Saturday during the opening week of youth football in Utah County, and it centered on one of the most debated yet least understood calls in football: intentional grounding.

One of my crew mates threw a flag for this particular foul when the quarterback, while trying to avoid a sack, threw a pass into an area of the field with no eligible receiver in the vicinity. Following the game, we had two different spectators come over and ask why it was a penalty.

One fan asked about the quarterback being outside the “tackle box,” meaning the width of the field between the two offensive tackles that, during a passing play, is also commonly referred to as “the pocket.” The second asked about the pass being thrown beyond the line of scrimmage.

Both of these elements of a play are part of the same NFL rule regarding intentional grounding. On Sundays, if a quarterback is outside the tackle box and throws a pass that lands at or beyond the line of scrimmage, there can be no foul for intentional grounding. It doesn’t matter if his nearest teammate is 50 yards away.

The NFHS rule, however, is substantially different.

Rule 7-5d states “An illegal forward pass is a foul. Illegal forward passes include a pass intentionally thrown into an area not occupied by an eligible offensive receiver.” Rule 7-5e adds more detail that “a pass intentionally thrown incomplete to save loss of yardage or to conserve time” is also illegal, with the following exception: “It is legal to conserve time by intentionally throwing the ball forward to the ground immediately after receiving a direct hand-to-hand snap.”

So what does that all mean in layman’s football terms?

First, as those rules are written, there are no provisions for where the quarterback is on the field nor where the ball lands for determining the legality of a pass. The only requirement on a “regular” passing play is that an eligible receiver be in the area. What exactly that constitutes is left to the judgment of the officials on the field.

So if the quarterback decides to throw the ball into the stands (it happens) and on its way there the football flies over the head of an eligible receiver, it is still, by rule, intentional grounding — because where the football landed, there is no eligible receiver in the area.

As for Rule 7-5e and its exception, this is specifically in reference to “spiking” the football to stop the clock, usually seen in a two-minute drill situation by the offense. Such a move is perfectly legal, so long as two key provisions are met: the ball must go immediately to the ground, and the QB must take the snap under center.

With the proliferation of spread and shotgun offenses at high school and youth levels, you’d be surprised how many teams don’t know this rule and spike the ball after a shotgun snap. This is a foul for intentional grounding.

Hopefully this will help you better understand the differences in intentional grounding at different levels of football, so when you see that late flag come out this weekend after a wayward pass, you will be able to explain to you family and friends why the call was made.