News: DC: No Discussion On Bryant’s Overruled Catch From NFL Competition Committee At Combine

[TheCount]

Sure, and the same is true for a RB. It doesn't matter what position you play, it matters whether you have possession in the first place. Dez had possession according to the official nearest the play, but the replay officials took it into their own hands to rule that he was going to the ground in order to make the catch. That meant he had to maintain possession after contacting the ground.

That "going to the ground to make the catch" rule isn't supposed to apply when the player is down by contact (as Dez was), or if the player performs an act common to the game (as Dez did), but the replay officials ignored both the contact and the football move and applied it anyway.

For me the reason it should have been a catch is simple. It was called a catch on the field and there was nothing indisputable to say otherwise. Even if they had called it incomplete on the field and the replay officials overturned it the other way, it would have been a bad call. To me, that's the replay/official failure before even getting into the whole "football move" nonsense.

 

[percyhoward]

For me the reason it should have been a catch is simple. It was called a catch on the field and there was nothing indisputable to say otherwise. Even if they had called it incomplete on the field and the replay officials overturned it the other way, it would have been a bad call. To me, that's the replay/official failure before even getting into the whole "football move" nonsense.

Yeah, I agree it's got nothing to do with any "football move," unless you buy into the idea that he was going to the ground to make the catch in the first place. It was ruled a catch and down by contact on the field, and that's how it should have stayed. The real problem is the replay officials -- one of whom was the referee -- being able to say he was going to the ground on his own without any evidence.

 

[ftghb]

why would there need any discussion. It was a catch by the standards of the current rules anyway. They just blew the call.

 

[xwalker]

they changed the rule to make it simpler, don't lose the ball going to the ground. pretty simple.

No, it's far from simple. "Going to the ground" in itself is complicated. Dez had 3 feet down (2 steps). If he had 3 feet down (3 steps) and then went down and the ball came out is that not a catch? What about 4 steps? What about 5 steps?

 

[percyhoward]

No, it's far from simple. "Going to the ground" in itself is complicated. Dez had 3 feet down (2 steps). If he had 3 feet down (3 steps) and then went down and the ball came out is that not a catch? What about 4 steps? What about 5 steps?

Even two feet down and contact that sends you to the ground is considered a catch -- whether the ground knocks the ball loose or not.

 

[percyhoward]

The rule is flawed in its wording. I will be highly surprised if the rule does not get changed. Hopefully, the competition committee will resolve whether the rule will stand as is or revise it within the next few months.

Rules (and that's all rules, not just those governing football play) are changed to help prevent further intentional and unintentional interpretations. That said, humans are not perfect. There aren't any perfect rules. Some rules are better than others though. Changing this particular rule will not stop someone else from purposefully or innocently screwing a call in the future. Not changing this particular rule shall encourage and (not discourage) Blandino and people like him to do the exact same thing he did to Bryant and Dallas.

So, I know people, especially Dallas fans, want justice. They want Blandino and the NFL to confess and face punishment. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that sentiment. Nothing whatsoever. I just think there is zero chance in west hell it will ever happen. Me? I think the closest thing remotely resembling an apology happening is a rule change. I'm gonna wait-and-see if that happens. Then, I'm gonna wait-and-see how Blandino and the league will officiate games from here on out based either upon the current rule or the anticipated changed rule.

The real headline here isn't "No Discussion on Bryant's Overturned Catch at Combine," it's "Fisher Says Field Officials Disagree with Overturn of Bryant's Catch." We know from Fisher's statement that most of the league's field officials thought the catch should have stood. Can you imagine the public reaction if he had said this the day after it happened? Blandino knew most of the officials in the NFL disagreed with his reversal the whole time he was doing his "spin" circuit.

There is a rule in place about receivers going to the ground to make the catch, but the reversal of Dez's catch revealed a disagreement between field officials and replay officials about when it applies. The problem is that there is no standard definition of what constitutes "going to the ground to make a catch," which means someone without a lot of football sense can interpret any play when the receiver falls down as that kind of play, whether the fall was part of the catch or not. If they define "going to the ground" as (for example) not taking at least two heel-to-toe steps with control of the ball, then "retroactively" the Dez play is a catch, but the definition should have been put into the rule book along with the rule itself.

The reason this definition wasn't put in at the same time as the rule is almost certainly that no one anticipated a person like Blandino being in the position of interpreting the play. Everyone probably assumed that the only people looking at replays would be football people who either were or had been field officials at some point in their lives, so there was no need to "idiot-proof" the rules. Fisher's not just saying a rule needs to be changed, he's basically saying the system is broken.