Flag football is considered a semicontact or no-contact sport, depending on the sponsoring organization, and does not require helmets or shoulder pads. The rules of flag football are designed to eliminate the kind of contact that helmets and padding offer protection from in tackle football. In fact, the U.S. Flag Football Association, the official organization for men's amateur flag football, expressly prohibits helmets and shoulder pads.
Flag Football Equipment
The U.S. Flag Football Association mandates that players wear a jersey with numbers on the front and back, pants, shoes and a belt with two flags. The belt has one flag on each side of the body hanging from the waist. The ball carrier is ruled down when a defender grabs one of the flags. The National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association, which governs sports competition at many U.S. colleges, changed its equipment rules in 2011 for its National Campus Championship Series to allow players to wear “soft and yielding padded compression shorts and shirts” and a face shield “molded to the face with no protrusions” to protect against injuries to the face.
Offensive Rules Regarding Contact
A ball carrier cannot run into a defensive player, use a straight-arm or stiff-arm maneuver or guard his flags by using his hands or arm to block a defender from reaching the flag. Blockers must remain on their feet before, during and after contact with a defender, and can make contact only between the waist and neck. When setting up to block, the player’s elbow must be entirely outside his shoulder, and he cannot swing, throw or flip his elbow or forearm toward the defender. There also is no downfield blocking allowed ahead of a ball carrier.
Defensive Rules Regarding Contact
Defensive players can use their hands to grasp, push or pull an offensive player in attempting to reach a ball carrier. They also can use their hands to ward off a blocker or go after a loose ball. However, defensive players cannot hold, obstruct, push or knock down a ball carrier when trying to remove a flag. The rules are designed to force defenders to use positioning and quickness to grab the flag of a ball carrier, and they are permitted to leave their feet in trying to grab the flag. A defensive player is allowed to use his hands to make contact with the body and shoulders of a ball carrier but cannot use any part of the head.
Penalties for Excessive Contact
The rules of flag football call for penalties when a referee determines that excessive contact has occurred. A 10-yard penalty is assessed for striking, kicking, kneeing, elbowing, hurdling, tripping, running into an opponent, clipping and illegal use of hands or arms.
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