Face guarding is legal in college football and the NFL

I just wanted to remind fans and announcers especially, that face guarding is legal in both college football and the NFL. It all comes down to contact. So long as a defender doesn't make contact with an intended receiver, he doesn't have to turn around to play the ball. I can't tell you how many times every week I hear announcers talk about face guarding being a penalty. It's not. I even heard one announcer yesterday state, "If the defender doesn't turn around and play the ball, the ref will call pass interference every time." That's simply not true.

Courtesy of referee Bill LeMonnier, he says this with regard to the rule at the college level (answered on 8/12/13):

"NCAA rules on pass interference require the face guarding to have contact to be a foul. No contact, no foul by NCAA rules."

In the NFL rule book, this is written: 

"Actions that constitute defensive pass interference include but are not limited to:

(a) Contact by a defender who is not playing the ball and such contact restricts the receiver's opportunity to make the catch..."

I'm now thinking it should be required for announcers to read the rule book before calling a game...

http://usafootball.com/blogs/fundamentals-and-performance/post/7319

http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/passinterference