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With a unanimous 32-0 vote, NFL teams have moved to change the highly controversial catch rule during the Annual League Meeting, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports.
The catch rule passed by a vote of 32-0 #theyallcaughtit
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 27, 2018
Under the new rule proposed by the competition committee, there are three criteria that a player must fulfill in order for a play to be ruled a catch: 1) control of the ball, 2) two feet (or another body part) down, and 3) a football move like a third step, reaching for the line to gain, or the ability to make such a move.
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This new definition eliminates the “going-to-ground” part of the old rule. That means that controversial incompletions like Dez Bryant against the Packers in the 2014 playoffs and Jesse James against the Patriots last season would now be deemed as catches if they occurred next season. It won’t be much consolation to those teams who were dramatically affected by the old rule, but that’s all in the past now.
Despite this change in the catch rule, chances are there will still be some controversies in the interpretation of the rule that will present themselves at some point. But at the very least, this is a step in the right direction for the NFL to try and address what was a glaring problem in the rulebook.
Hopefully, the new rule will accomplish its main objectives, which are to significantly reduce the number of those contentious calls as opposed to the old version and to better clarify the definition of a catch for fans, players, coaches, and referees alike.
