There is legal, and there is illegal. There is no excessive legal, or it would be illegal.
Ummm, yes there is...
NCAA Rulebook 5.5.c Unnecessary Roughness... "Any act on the part of a player that is deliberate and excessively violent, whether it be with the body or crosse."
NFHS rule 5.9.3 is worded mostly the same and has two additional important qualifiers... "Any
avoidable act on the part of a player that is deliberate and excessively violent, whether it be with the body or crosse.
This may include a legal body check." (emphasis mine)
Officials are taught to call unnecessary roughness on what would otherwise be a legal body check if it is more violent than necessary to separate the player from the ball.
