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Heading into the 2018 offseason, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is focused on finding a way to alter the league's infamous catch rule in response to concerns expressed by fans, players, and coaches alike.
For everything that instant replay has done to help the game, it's made a mockery over this simple question: what is a catch? For years, what appear to be clear receptions initially are slowed down, frame-by-frame, until the slightest part of the catch rule is violated. Terms like “survive the ground” and “complete the process” have been mocked on social media on a weekly basis.
During an appearance on FS1's “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” Goodell made his desire to change the catch rule quite clear, especially the portion about players maintaining control as they go down.
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“I'm not just somewhat concerned, I am concerned… You want there to be clarity from an officiating standpoint, a coaching and a player standpoint.
You might have clarity in a large element of it, but then what happens is it's not the rule people really want. Fans want catches… It's particularly in the going to the ground that I think is creating a lot of the confusion because it's a different rule when you're going to the ground than on the sideline or in the end zone.”
"I'm not just somewhat concerned, I am concerned… It's particularly in the going to the ground that I think is creating a lot of the confusion." — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on the 'Catch Rule' pic.twitter.com/sn9CAqwKUv
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 29, 2018
Goodell added that a number of possible fixes were discussed with a panel of five Hall of Fame receivers and a number of coaches earlier in January. The competition committee will continue to meet over the next two months to discuss various rule changes, but Goodell's words on Monday seem to indicate that at least tweaking the catch rule will be their primary focus.
