The NFL Modified The 'Catch Rule' And There May Never Be A Completed Catch Again
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The NFL has made yet another amendment to its most infamous rule, and the football world has plunged even deeper down the rabbit hole of deciphering completions and may never escape. If figuring out what "makes a catch a catch" was already baffling, it's reached David Lynch levels of confusion now.
ESPN's Kevin Seifert reported the change Thursday afternoon and implored readers to bookmark the page because the rule will surely be dissected dozens of times over the course of the 2016 season. Players still need to secure the ball and keep both feet in bounds, fine. But the part that devolves the rule into a convoluted mess is the one about "maintaining control long enough to be a runner," a more confusing way of describing the elusive "football move."
So how does one become a runner? Here's how the rule describes it: "A player has the ball long enough to become a runner when, after his second foot is on the ground, he is capable of avoiding or warding off impending contact of an opponent, tucking the ball away, turning up field, or taking additional steps."
This is why continually adding provisions and amendments and footnotes to the rule only makes it harder to understand and easier to screw up. Ultimately, officials may have to make judgment calls - it's virtually impossible to have an air-tight by-the-book catch every single time. How, then, will officials define "capable of avoiding or warding off impending contact," "tucking the ball away," "turning up field," or "taking additional steps"?
This is what the 2016 version of the rule reads in regards to catches made while going to the ground: "[He] must maintain control of the ball until after his initial contact with the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete."
Translation: "The slightest bobble of the ball will result in 85 replays and a 20-minute delay to determine whether or not you made a first-down. Oh and this will probably happen in a playoff game and erupt in controversy."
So for a catch to count, you need to secure the ball and get both feet down in bounds and keep the ball from moving or touching the ground AND meet one of four vague, arbitrary criteria to become a runner AND!!! control the ball long enough for said criteria to kick in.
This should end well. Probably start well, too.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
