No Yards

CFL Talk
1

I know what the rules are for no yards but I question the wisdom. On two occasions tonight, Winnipeg players intentionally encroached on the 5 yards and actually touched the ball, the league needs to change this, it is simply wrong that just because the ball bounces it is 5 yards, there needs to be a ruling that intentionally encroaching the 5 yards is a 15 yard penalty!

2

actually.. it IS 15 yards if it's picked up by the kicking team..

I didn't see the whole game but I believe on one of these occasions you speak of, the Winnipeg player "intentionally encroached on the 5 yards and actually touched the ball" because it was a LIVE BALL.. hit the Esks player first.. it was actually a turnover if not for the no yards call, which was five yards because the Bomber player in question was within five yards when the ball contacted the Eskimo player..

3

If I'm not mistaken, and I may very well be, there didn't used to be a 15 yard penalty for the 5 yard encroachment on a punt, it used to be just a 5 yard penalty but back in the mid 70's downfield tacklers would sacrifice the 5 yards to make the tackle on quicker punt returners. I thought that it came in when Johnny Rogers was playing for Montreal

4

I seem to recall at one time all no yards penalties were 15 yards and they changed it so that it was only 5 yards if it bounced. Can't remember when though.

5

I always remember it as a 5 yard penalty, but maybe it was 15 in the early '60s or earlier? The change to 5 and 15 was quite recent, but it could be they went to 15 yards at some point before that - I really don't remember for sure.

I think it was Johnny Rodgers' second year when the league changed the rules to allow blocking on punt returns. Montreal seemed to be the only team to realize that the five yard no yards penalty was worth taking vs. a big return; they took the penalty almost every punt. And at the time, it was definitely 5 yards.

Anybody know if there's a list of rule changes by year posted anywhere? I remember seeing one for the NHL, and some of the changes are hilarious given today's perspective (e.g. allowing puck to be passed forward).

6

its five yards because of the fact that it bounces. makes the ball much harder to predict its course