How to Signal Illegal Forward Pass in Football

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Brian Currier and I'm here on behalf of Expert Village. I'm here to talk about football penalties and the hand signals that the officials give to indicate the penalties. A number of penalties have different rules associated with them depending upon the level of football you're talking about, whether it's High School, College, or the NFL. As much as possible, we'll indicate where those differences are. By rule, the offense may make only one forward pass during a given down. An illegal forward pass occurs when the offense throws two or more forward passes or when a forward pass is thrown once the ball carrier is across the line of scrimmage. In addition to a five yard mark off, this penalty carries a loss of down. The signal for illegal forward pass is (video demo, right arm moving up and down behind back). The signal for loss of down is (video demo, both hands behind head). The team with the ball is permitted to complete a lateral pass or handoff at any position on the field. The ball must be exchanged between the two players when they are directly side by side or when the receiver is behind the ball carrier."