Five-Yard Penalties:

	Defensive holding or illegal use of hands No defensive player is allowed to hold or push an offensive receiver or back on a passing play past the initial five yard chuck-zone. The first five yards past the line of scrimmage, the defense may jam, hold up, the receiver to keep them from getting by, but after that a penalty is awarded to the offense. Special Notes: Automatic first down awarded to offense.
	Delay of game This penalty can be called on either offense or defense, but the foul is most commonly committed by the offense. The penalty occurs on offense when they allow the play clock to run down to zero without snapping the ball. The penalty can be called on the defense if the referees feel that the defense did not allow the offense to get the play off in time for any reason. A similar foul is delay on kickoff.
	Encroachment When the defense comes across the line of scrimmage and actually touches an offensive player before the snap, encroachment is called.
	Excessive time outs A team can not call more than three time outs a half. If this occurs, a five yard penalty is assessed on the offense and the clock is restarted.
	Facemask Similar to the above, if the facemask is deemed to be unintentional and non-flagrant by the referees, then only a five yard penalty is assessed.
	False Start A false start occurs when an offensive player moves before the ball is snapped. This penalty is not called if a player is in motion, but that player must either be moving parallel to the line of scrimmage ( a receiver in motion ) or set before the snap to not be in violation. Motion is a common tool used by coaches to try to free up a receiver, or confuse a defense and is simply a player changing their position on the field before the snap. Only receivers, running backs, and the quarterback may be in motion.
	Forward pass thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage A player can not throw the ball forward once passed the line of scrimmage. Special notes: Loss of down along with the five yard penalty.
	Forward pass thrown from behind the line of scrimmage after ball has already crossed the line of scrimmage A player can not take the ball passed the line of scrimmage, beack behind the line, and then throw the ball forward.
	Illegal return A player that signals a fair catch may not try to return the ball.
	Illegal Formation The offense must have seven players on the line of scrimmage or they are guilty of illegal formation.
	Illegal Shift A player can not make a motion as if they play were live if they are simply changing their position. Once a player shifts his position he must not make a movement for at least a second before the ball is snapped. More than one player may be shifting at once as long as all get set.
	Illegal Motion Similar to illegal shift except the player does not come to a stop. Also, only one player is allowed in motion and the motion must be parallel to the line of scrimmage.
	Illegal Substitution A player may only enter the field of play while the ball is dead. They must also only leave crossing their own sideline. Substitutes entering the game must enter the field passed the numerals. Finally, except for the last two minutes of the half, the offense must not rush to the line and hurry up a snap if they are substituting.
	Invalid fair catch signal The player receiving a kick must make a noticeable wave of his hand above his head for it to be a legal fair catch signal.
	Offside Each team must be lined up on their line of scrimmage and can not be lined up in the neutral zone when the ball is snapped. The neutal zone is the area between the front and back of the ball.
	Pass touched by receiver after he has gone out of bounds Once a player goes out of bounds he is not allowed to touch the ball on that play.
	Player out of bounds at snap All eligible players must be on the field of play at the snap of the ball.
	Running into kicker If a player hits the kicker and does not touch the ball, but the hit is not flagrant, only the five yard penalty is called.
	Second forward pass behind the line A player may not make more than one forward pass from behind the line of scrimmage.
	Too many men on the field Each team may only have eleven men on the field while the play is live.

Ten-Yard Penalties:

	Deliberately batting, kicking, or punching a loose ball A player may not deliberately punch, kick, or bat a loose ball in any direction.
	Helping the runner An offensive player is not allowed to assisst a runner by pushing or pulling them forward.
	Holding, illegal use of hands, illegal block above the waist Players can not hold onto other players by either their jersey or body. Players can not put their hands into another players face in order to block them. Players may also not block another player in the back.
	Intentional grounding If a quarterback is between the offensive tackles, he may not throw the ball into the ground or out of bounds if their is no chance the pass will be completed. This means that a player must be in the area the ball is thrown to or a foul will be called. The ten yards is marked off from where the quarterback was when he threw the ball.
	Offensive pass interference An offensive player can not push or interfere with a defensive player while trying to catch the ball.
	Tripping A person can not trip somebody in order to block or tackle them.

Fifteen-Yard Penalties:

	Chop block An offensive player may not block a person below the waist from behind.
	Clipping Clipping occurs when an offensive player blocks a defensive player from behind.
	Facemask Same as five yard variety only called when foul is flagrant.
	Fair catch interference Once a player signals for a fair catch the defense must give that player 2 yds to catch the ball and can not touch the player in any way.
	Faking a roughing While this penalty is rarely called, the kicker or passer may not fake being roughed by the opponent in an attempt to get a foul called on them.
	Illegal low block A player can not block a person below the knees.
	Kicking or kneeling on opponent (disqualified if flagrant) Same as above only with kicking and kneeling.
	Roughing the kicker (automatic first down, disqualified if flagrant) Same as the five yard version only the foul is more flagrant. If the foul is too bad the player may be ejected.
	Roughing the passer (automatic first down, disqualified if flagrant) A player is allowed 1 step to hit the passer after the quarterback has thorwn the ball. If the quarterback is hit after this, a penalty is called.
	Spearing A player can not lead with the crown (top)of their helmet when tackling an opponent.
	Striking opponent with fist (disqualified if flagrant) Easy enough, you can't punch, slap, etc. an opponent.
	Striking an official (automatic disqualification) No player may intentionaly strike, shove, push, etc. an official.
	Unneccesary roughness (disqualified if flagrant) Foul occurs when, in the officials opinion, a player uses tactics that are uneccesary to block or tackle another player.
	Unsportsmanlike conduct (disqualified if flagrant) Similar to the above penalty except the foul occurs after the play is dead.
	Using a helmet as a weapon (automatic disqualification) A player cannot remove his helmet at all while on the field of play to use as a weapon or to celebrate, argue, etc.