unnecessary roughness
Flagrant physical excess
Unnecessary roughness is a penalty in American football for excessive physical force beyond what the play requires—hitting a player who's already down, tackling someone out of bounds, or striking an opponent in the head.
The phrase extends to any situation where someone uses more force or aggression than warranted: The boss's criticism crossed into unnecessary roughness.
- penaltyPunishment for wrongdoing
- foulOffensive or illegal
- flagrantShockingly conspicuous and wrong
- excessiveSurpassing reasonable bounds
- brutalSavagely harsh or severe
tackle · hit · violation · football · ejection · thrown out · unsportsmanlike · cheap shot · late hit · personal foul · aggression · contact · helmet · pile on · blindside · targeting · referee · yellow flag
- football officiatingreferee, penalty flag, yellow flag, false start, offside
- dangerous playshigh tackle, late hit, late tackle, targeting, clothesline
- Canadian footballCFL, rouge, Argonauts, Argos, Stamps
unnecessary roughnessclean hit
Uncontested fair contact
light contact · soft touch · non-contact · touch football · finesse
unnecessary roughnesssportsmanship
Ethical athletic conduct
fair play · good sportsmanship · restraint · self-control · discipline
unnecessary, roughness, rough, roughen, roughly, roughs, rougher, roughest, roughened