Goodell Says NFL Might Need to Re-Revisit Catch Rule

Spurred on by the uproar surrounding Dez Bryant’s catch that wasn’t against the Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs last year, the NFL’s Competition Committee got together in the offseason to further clarify the rules that determine what is and what isn’t a catch.

11 week into the 2015 season, it seems clear they failed toward that end, essentially making a lateral move by just changing the language up a bit--gone is the stuff about a football move, here is the stuff about “becoming a runner” before going to the ground. All things considered, the Competition Committee might have actually done the opposite of clarification.

Very simply, that part of the game been legislated to the point where no one knows what a catch is in today’s NFL.

That’s a problem, obviously, and one that Roger Goodell says needs some addressing--again.

“We debated that in the office the last couple weeks,” Goodell said, per USA Today. “And I think what we’re really going to do is get some people who are really focused on evaluating every one of these, and try to see, because it’s a balance between what you think is a catch, what the officials can officiate on a consistent basis and what’s going to have what we call the unintended consequences.

“If it’s too short a time … you’re going to get more fumbles on the field and (the question is) what kind of impact that has. So there are a lot of issues that need to be balanced in there. It’s not that simple a question. A lot of people believe the right way to do it is the second foot down and control, that’s a catch. That’s something we’ll have to look at. Again.”