DMN: NFL VP of Officiating: It’s not unreasonable to watch everything Dez did and think

KJJ said:

I'll stay out of it so it doesn't turn into another food fight.

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fishspill said:

I get the impression the NFL was hoping to make things simple and consistent, but failed miserably in the codification and application of the rule. In the simplest, observable terms they wanted a player to control the ball fully through the entirety of the motion of the play. No juggle, no moving, no shifting until all bodies cease movement. The application occurs any time a body or ball is tended toward the ground at the end of a play. In an attempt to write this into words, they tried to eliminate subjectivity but failed at the enterprise. Their words say Dez made the catch; the spirit of the rule says he didn't.

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blindzebra said:

http://********.com/nfl-changes-the...source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Via former VP of Officiating Mike Pereira on Twitter, the new rule gets rid of language about a “football move.” Here’s how it will read:

A player is considered to be going to the ground if he does not remain upright long enough to demonstrate that he is clearly a runner. If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), 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.

And for comparison’s sake, here is the relevant portion of the old rule (emphasis mine):

A player who makes a catch may advance the ball. A forward pass iscomplete (by the offense) or intercepted (by the defense) if a player, who is inbounds: a) secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and b) touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and c) maintains control of the ball long enough, after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, to enable him to perform any actcommon to the game (i.e., maintaining control long enough to pitch it, pass it, advance with it, or avoid or ward off anopponent, etc.).

[...]

If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contactby an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the fieldof play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the passis incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.

Pereira tweets that this new wording makes it so that Bryant’s catch would have been “clearly incomplete,” but I’m not so sure. Now, instead of watching the above clip and determining whether or not Bryant performed a football move, you have to determine whether or not he remained upright long enough to “demonstrate that he is clearly a runner.” I guess I would agree that he isn’t a runner in the above clip, but he did manage to take two steps and propel himself forward. What if he had taken a third step before falling, would that be considered running?

Besides the fact that the rule remains ambiguous, the NFL is going in the wrong direction. Dez Bryant’s catch, like Calvin Johnson’s five years before, was an incredible feat of athleticism, and a highly exciting play. The rule was applied correctly in both cases, but that’s precisely the problem, as the practical application of this rule is to take away exciting-as-all-hell catches that would be considered catches everywhere ... except the NFL rule book.

The NFL has traded one ambiguously worded rule for another, and the new one will be even more likely to take away phenomenal plays. That seems backwards.​

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nathanlt said:

Oh wow, even after rewriting the rule, Dez still caught the ball for the 2015-16 version of it. Let's see, Dez kept control of the ball after INITIAL CONTACT with the ground, for a full second, to boot. The initial contact?

Dez's first step. Not to mention he had 2 additional steps and both elbows down with no ball movement.

Blandino STILL can't put into writing how to take that catch away from Dez, 6 months later!

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Carharris2 said:

Yes I'm sure they would claim he didn't hold onto it long enough to satisfy the catch rule. Like he didn't make "enough" of a football move. I'd love to hear their explanation of how long satisfies this rule change.

This change is a laughable attempt to cover up an obvious, to most, error.

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blindzebra said:

http://********.com/nfl-changes-the...source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Via former VP of Officiating Mike Pereira on Twitter, the new rule gets rid of language about a “football move.” Here’s how it will read:

A player is considered to be going to the ground if he does not remain upright long enough to demonstrate that he is clearly a runner. If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), 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.

And for comparison’s sake, here is the relevant portion of the old rule (emphasis mine):

A player who makes a catch may advance the ball. A forward pass iscomplete (by the offense) or intercepted (by the defense) if a player, who is inbounds: a) secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and b) touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and c) maintains control of the ball long enough, after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, to enable him to perform any actcommon to the game (i.e., maintaining control long enough to pitch it, pass it, advance with it, or avoid or ward off anopponent, etc.).

[...]

If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contactby an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the fieldof play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the passis incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.

Pereira tweets that this new wording makes it so that Bryant’s catch would have been “clearly incomplete,” but I’m not so sure. Now, instead of watching the above clip and determining whether or not Bryant performed a football move, you have to determine whether or not he remained upright long enough to “demonstrate that he is clearly a runner.” I guess I would agree that he isn’t a runner in the above clip, but he did manage to take two steps and propel himself forward. What if he had taken a third step before falling, would that be considered running?

Besides the fact that the rule remains ambiguous, the NFL is going in the wrong direction. Dez Bryant’s catch, like Calvin Johnson’s five years before, was an incredible feat of athleticism, and a highly exciting play. The rule was applied correctly in both cases, but that’s precisely the problem, as the practical application of this rule is to take away exciting-as-all-hell catches that would be considered catches everywhere ... except the NFL rule book.

The NFL has traded one ambiguously worded rule for another, and the new one will be even more likely to take away phenomenal plays. That seems backwards.​

Click to expand...

fishspill said:

I get the impression the NFL was hoping to make things simple and consistent, but failed miserably in the codification and application of the rule. In the simplest, observable terms they wanted a player to control the ball fully through the entirety of the motion of the play. No juggle, no moving, no shifting until all bodies cease movement. The application occurs any time a body or ball is tended toward the ground at the end of a play. In an attempt to write this into words, they tried to eliminate subjectivity but failed at the enterprise. Their words say Dez made the catch; the spirit of the rule says he didn't.

Click to expand...

Screw The Hall said:

Well it certainly is reassuring that the group who made a decision that 99% of people, regardless of team affiliation, disagree with doesn't think we are all being unreasonable. Mass insanity or a really bad decision in a heated and pressure-packed environment that supports said bad decision? That's a toughie.

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