Tripping, A Penalty?

[Radagast]

I see loads of penalties called for many different reasons. Blocking below the waist, Holding, Pass Interference, and such are normal calls. What I don't recall is a WR or CB being called for "Tripping". Is there such a thing and just how would a Referee distinguish between two players getting accidentally tangled and an intended trip.

It occured to me that if a player practiced it, they could intentionally trip another player to get open to catch a pass or to cause a player to fall short of making a catch. Mastering such a technique could put a player in more advantageous positions to make plays.

Does anyone know about this and how could a referee tell the difference between an intentional trip and an accidental occurrence? I've seen players go down and no flags were thrown. I'm not talking about a pick on an opposing player, but a one on one matchup where one of the players gets tripped up. What are the rules on this type of case.

[MadScientist]

Tripping is usually called on near the LOS, when a defender is down and the ball carrier runs by/over the defenders legs. If the defender raise his leg to trip the runner, a penalty will be called. Feet getting tangled is not what the penalty is about.

[texaspackerbacker]

Yeah, as maddening as it is when our guy gets "accidentally" tripped, it hardly ever gets called. If they ever do call it, I'd say it's a wild guess as to whether it was intentional. Anybody remember say DBs who were good or notorious for having those "accidents". I can't think of any.

[run pMc]

Ever try tripping someone while in a full sprint?
I think the results are too random and hard to control, you could end up tripping yourself while the other player regains their balance and makes the INT or TD. Also, if players/teams thought you were doing it intentionally you'd be considered a dirty player. You could really hurt someone that way.
The other thing is, if a ref thought you were intentionally doing it, or it happened an unusual amount, I could see them calling PI or a personal foul. Wouldn't be much difference from an illegal block or a DB smacking a player before the ball got there IMO.

[Radagast]

Ever try tripping someone while in a full sprint?
I think the results are too random and hard to control, you could end up tripping yourself while the other player regains their balance and makes the INT or TD. Also, if players/teams thought you were doing it intentionally you'd be considered a dirty player. You could really hurt someone that way.
The other thing is, if a ref thought you were intentionally doing it, or it happened an unusual amount, I could see them calling PI or a personal foul. Wouldn't be much difference from an illegal block or a DB smacking a player before the ball got there IMO.

True enough, yet the subject occured to me as I was watching, on a rare occurrence, a Soccer game. Players routinely get tangled with each other and both don't always go down. As I understand it some are wizards at tripping other players and do it routinely. So beyond being illegal in football, such a thing is considered to be in bad taste?

[MadScientist]

True enough, yet the subject occured to me as I was watching, on a rare occurrence, a Soccer game. Players routinely get tangled with each other and both don't always go down. As I understand it some are wizards at tripping other players and do it routinely. So beyond being illegal in football, such a thing is considered to be in bad taste?

In soccer the ball is at ground level, so you can make a sliding play on the ball while tripping your opponent and possibly not get called. In football, besides being tricky to pull off from the angles involved it would be blindingly obvious that you were tripping your opponent and you would get a penalty 100% of the time. Also you'd probably get a call from the league insisting you take some time off to consider not doing blatant, dangerous acts on the field anymore.

[Teamcheez1]

I've seen it called several times on O-Lineman. When they get beat by a pass rusher and are off balance or falling down, they will throw out their leg to impede or trip the pass rusher.

[Radagast]

In soccer the ball is at ground level, so you can make a sliding play on the ball while tripping your opponent and possibly not get called. In football, besides being tricky to pull off from the angles involved it would be blindingly obvious that you were tripping your opponent and you would get a penalty 100% of the time. Also you'd probably get a call from the league insisting you take some time off to consider not doing blatant, dangerous acts on the field anymore.

100% of the time? Still I see obvious penalties of interference, holding, and others that should have been called are not. I believe that there are rare occurrences where a CB or S uses their feet/legs to break up a play and they are not called for it. I'm not saying it is a right thing to do, but I do believe that it does happen. The thing is that even a video review can't define if the trip was intentional or not.

100%, I'm not buying that.

[Fritz]

"Tripping, A Penalty?"

Not in Michigan any more. They voted to legalize marijuana last fall.

[Radagast]

"Tripping, A Penalty?"

Not in Michigan any more. They voted to legalize marijuana last fall.