How to Signal Tripping 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 official give to indicate the penalties. A number of the penalties have different rules associated with them depending on 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. During the course of play an offensive player may not block a defensive player by intentionally tripping him. Neither can a defensive player make a tackle by intentionally tripping the ball carrier. Moves that are not permitted include what's called a leg whip where a player deliberately throws his legs out as he's being knocked to the ground in an effort to trip the ball carrier or block a defender. Tripping carries a 15 yard assessment at the high school level and the signal for tripping is (video demo, right foot placed behind the left calf). "