The NFL is completely ignoring its biggest rule problem this offseason
The NFL is doing nothing to change the catch rule this offseason. Why?
By
Will Brinson
•
2 min read
The NFL is doing nothing to change the catch rule this offseason. Why? This is, by far, the single-biggest football-rule issue facing the league (off-field problems and concussions not withstanding).
No one knows what a catch is, everyone is annoyed by not knowing what a catch is and people in the league continue to act like everyone should know watch a catch is.
Even worse: the league isn't doing anything about it.
On the list of 19 potential NFL rule changes proposed by different teams and the competition committee there isn't one mention of changing the catch rule.
Former Colts GM and Hall of Famer Bill Polian, part of the "catch committee" with the NFL, said there isn't a change coming and it's just a matter of educating fans and media.
Former Redskins and Texans GM Charley Casserly was on the NFL Network on Monday morning talking about the catch rule and proceeded to say "it's real simple" to know what a catch is.
He did so by citing the idea from baseball where you show the ball when you stand up. And he did it while a replay of a receiver dropping the ball played in the background.
Granted, Golden Tate of the Lions had possession before hitting the end zone (according to the NFL's review at the time) but still, the point remains: a catch is confusing.
And the NFL isn't going to do anything about it.
The NFL's VP of officiating, Dean Blandino, told Peter King of TheMMQB.com ahead of the NFL owners' meetings he believes the rule is pretty clear.
“Control, plus two feet down, plus time, equals possession,” Blandino said. “If you don’t have that while upright, and you are going to the ground, then hold on to the ball when you land.”
Additionally, the league brought in former and current NFL wideouts to discuss the issue. And still didn't feel like there's a problem.
“We reached out to a couple of different groups to try to get more input. We had Cris Carter, Randy Moss, James Thrash, Tim Brown, Steve Largent, Chad Lewis and Jordy Nelson join us in that discussion," Blandino said. "We had former head coaches, Jim Schwartz and Ken Whisenhunt, we had [former GM] Bill Polian, game official Tom Finken. Everybody got together and looked at the rule, and the consensus was that the rule makes sense, and they didn’t see a need to change.
"But again, they all felt that we just have to continue to educate and teach and use video, because there is a lot of discussion about the rule."
It is literally inexplicable that everyone who is watching football cannot agree what is and what is not a catch but when a group of people meet with the NFL about it, everyone is on the same page.
How can Dez Bryant be completely confused about what a catch is but all the current and former wideouts who met with the NFL understand it? Nothing about this makes sense and the confusion isn't going away.
