The catch: Still not a catch
Rule wording tweaked; infamous incompletion wouldn’t count in 2015
PHOENIX — If you catch a pass, you must become a “runner” for it to actually count.
That’s according to the NFL Competition Committee, which tweaked the wording of what constitutes a catch in response to Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant’s infamous non- catch against the Green Bay Packers in the divisional playoffs.
“In order to complete a catch, the receiver has to have control, both feet on the ground and he has to have it after that long enough to clearly establish himself as a runner,” NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino said Monday.
In the past, a player had to make “a football move” according to rule and that wording created confusion, Blandino said.
“What isn’t a football move?” he said. “Right now, the rule is consistent.”
The changes, though, would not have altered the outcome of Bryant’s play, which was ruled a catch and then overturned on review. But St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher said clarity was gained.
“From a coach’s standpoint, if you are going to the ground, hang on to the ball,” Fisher said. “It is really that simple. That is how you are going to coach it. But to include if you become a runner, I think it really cleans things up for us.”
Here are some other highlights from the NFL Competition Committee’s news conference:
There is a proposal to amend the on- field injury policy by giving a spotter, who is a certified athletic trainer, the ability to communicate directly with the side judge to stop play if a player is deemed injured and hasn’t left the field.
New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman’s refusal to leave the field after appearing woozy after a hit in Super Bowl XLIX was “part of the issue,” Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay said.
“We expect it to be a fail- safe when people just don’t see this player and the distress the player may have had, the spotter does and stops the game,” McKay said.
The committee opposes instant replay for penalties. There were 13 proposals for changes to the current replay system, including one that all officials’ decisions be under review.
“There are a lot of things at stake and the big thing is the standard,” Fisher said. “The standard is very, very difficult. The on- thefield, full- speed standard versus the frame- by- frame review and basically what you’re doing is adding another element of subjectivity.”
The Bears have proposed that both teams get at least one possession in overtime, but the competition committee and commissioner Roger Goodell are opposed to it.
“The way the rule is now you still have sudden death in that the game can still end on any one play,” Blandino said. “If you made it a requirement for both teams to have a possession, then you eliminate that aspect of the rule.”
Said McKay: “The statistic that I would say shows the committee got this thing right is that from 2012- 2014, the team that wins the coin toss is winning the game at 46.9 percent and the team that loses the coin toss is winning the game at 46.9 percent, so we’ve ended up kind of right where we wanted to be. Before it was 64 percent, we were at high numbers for the team winning the coin toss.”