Here’s The Smart Thing The NFL Is Doing To Fix Its Dumb Catch Rule

Finally, the NFL is asking wide receivers how to define a catch.

Another NFL regular season has flown by, and as the playoffs approach, there's more league-wide confusion over what constitutes a catch than ever.

Because of a series of recent NFL catch rule changes, one of the most basic, commonplace plays in football has become a weekly puzzle for officials, players and coaches alike.

The problem undoubtedly hit a tipping point this season, as players and coaches avidly spoke out against seemingly weekly controversial catch calls. In October, Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson told the Detroit Free Press he thought no one in the league even understood the catch rules.

In December, recently fired Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly flat-out admitted to local radio station 94WIP: “I don’t know what a catch is."

The speed of the game does no favor to the officials, but neither does their employer's rulebook: Halfway through the 2015 season, there were more coaches' challenges to a pass completion ruling than any other play, and more than half of those calls were overturned upon review -- the highest rate of any challenged play, according to ESPN. No catch is safe, upon review.

With their ears to the streets, the NFL decided in December to convene a "Catch Rule Committee" to study the ongoing issue before March's Competition Committee meeting, where rule changes can be implemented.

On Tuesday, the Catch Rule Committee held its first meeting, and a group of additional, warmly welcomed experts attended as well. While Johnson and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant were not included in the first meeting despite expressing their desires to help the NFL clarify the rule, many people involved closely in the game were, including Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson and legendary receivers like Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Steve Largent, Fred Biletnikoff and Tim Brown.

Dez Bryant hauls in a pass against the Packers, but the play ultimately didn't count as a catch. What?!
Dez Bryant hauls in a pass against the Packers, but the play ultimately didn't count as a catch. What?!
Fort Worth Star-Telegram via Getty Images

Speaking to the NFL Network on Tuesday, vice president of officiating Dean Blandino acknowledged the problematic subjectivity of the rule before patting himself on the back for doing what the league should've done years ago: ask the people who have actually played the game at the professional level what the rule should be.

"What better way and what better people than former receivers? We had several former receivers to look at some plays, get some feedback," Blandino said.

Yes, what a novel idea! Actually asking wide receivers -- you know, the guys doing the catching and whatnot -- what they think a catch is, and then creating a simple rule around their lived experiences would probably bring an end to the "catch crisis." Inclusion breeds trust, and given what's transpired between receivers and the league rule book this season, it's wholly necessary for effective change.

Critically using wide receiver input to evaluate the catch rule is a welcome change for the NFL. Presumably, previous changes to the catch rule were forged behind giant steel doors atop of the NFL's ivory tower on Madison Ave. Tangibly, the NFL's catch rule changes have only served to invalidate amazing feats of football athleticism. The prime example: This infamous Bryant "incomplete pass" against the Packers last January.

Bryant's subsequent outrage over the call ("It was a catch and they took it away") caused enough of an uproar for the NFL to change the catch rule in July 2015. But instead of rewriting the rule so that Bryant's play would have been a game-changing catch, the league doubled down and wrote new rules to clarify that it wasn’t.

Removed was the vague language about a player having to make a "football move" to rubber stamp a would-be catch -- the most subjective and heavily criticized part of the catch rule. In its place came equally confusing and subjective phrasing: "clearly establish himself as a runner" replaced "football move," and nothing's made damn sense since.

All of that was horrible. But in fall 2016, we should all expect a clear and simple catch rule in place. After all, NFL wide receivers are formally being heard out by a transparent NFL committee for the betterment of the league. The NFL is trying to do a good thing. What could go wrong? (Everything, of course.)

To help everyone along this arduous process, let's put it this way: If it looks like a catch, walks like a catch and talks like a catch, it's probably a catch.

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