View source for Blocking (American football)

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In [[American football]], '''blocking''' is a legal move occurring when one player obstructs another player's path with his body. The purpose of blocking is to prevent defensive players tackling the ball carrier, or to protect the [[quarterback]] while attempting to pass or hand-off the ball. [[Lineman (American football)|Offensive linemen]] and [[Fullback (American football)|fullbacks]] tend to do the most blocking, although [[wide receivers]] are often asked to help block on running plays and [[halfback (American football)|halfbacks]] may be asked to help block on passing plays, while [[tight end|tight ends]] performs pass block and run block if they are not running routes to receive catches.

As a general rule blocking is a push; one is not allowed to grasp someone or do any sort of pulling, and the hands must not be outside the line of each armpit, otherwise a holding penalty will be levied. Blocking is also not permitted beyond five yards from the line of scrimmage until the quarterback has handed-off the ball to a runner, or a [[wide receiver|receiver]] has touched the [[football (ball)|ball]] after it has been passed.

==See also==
*[[Glossary of American football]]
*[[Shepherding (Australian rules football)|Shepherding]], a similar tactic in [[Australian rules football]]
*[[Cut blocking]]

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[[Category:American football terminology]]

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