football foul

a rule violation that results in a penalty; most penalties consist of moving the football towards the offending team's end zone; if the penalty would move the ball more than half the distance to the defense's end zone, the penalty becomes half the distance to the goal instead of its normal value; most penalties result in replaying the down; some defensive penalties give the offense an automatic first down; conversely, some offensive penalties result in the automatic loss of a down; if a penalty gives the offensive team enough yardage to gain a first down, they get a first down, as usual.