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

[cajuncocoa]

This begs the question...why would a ruling exist that goes so much against what an overwhelming majority of fans see as "reasonable"? Who benefits from that? Shouldn't fans understand a ruling that officials make on the field?

 

[Vtwin]

He has some big brass ones to stand up there and flap his gums about "consistency".
The lack of consistency in ruling on the way too many subjective rules is the biggest problem with NFL officiating.

 

[Szczepanik]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...-gresham-dez-bryant-catch-20150112-story.html

Blandino is a hack.

 

[punchnjudy]

Even if the Eagles lose a big game because of this rule, I still want like the decision to keep it.

Well, not for more than a few hours.

OK, a few weeks. But after that...

 

[Little Jr]

I don't see the issue. It wasn't a catch. When it happened and showed the replay I knew they were going to say it wasn't a catch. If you watch enough football you have seen this call before. By rule it wasn't a catch.

 

[VACowboy]

I have wrestled with me feelings about this play all off season. And as much as I want that to be a catch, I see exactly what the refs see. Contact by Dez and the defender, no matter how many steps he took, is what caused him to fall IN THEIR EYES. It was not the reaching out, or leaping forward, but IN THEIR EYES, it was the sense of out of control and pushing off toward the goal line in a continuation of what they considered falling that counts.

IN THEIR EYES, HE WAS FALLING FORWARD.

One can make the argument he was stepping forward, but his body angle gave them a sense he was losing a fight with his balance. And that was precipitated by the contact.

In that light, he had to maintain control of the ball. The ball popped out of his hand. There is no disputing that.

Football move is far too subjective for anyone to assign that to what transpired.

I hate it, But I get it.

This is exactly how I feel. At first blush I feared the catch would be reversed. After seeing the replay, there was no doubt in my mind.

 

[DandyDon52]

I think the ball popping out as he rolled over gave them the reason to overturn it.
I think it should have stood as called, there wasnt indisputable evidence either way.

 

[VACowboy]

This begs the question...why would a ruling exist that goes so much against what an overwhelming majority of fans see as "reasonable"? Who benefits from that? Shouldn't fans understand a ruling that officials make on the field?

I agree. I think the rule is too complicated. They try to take the judgement out of the call by defining exactly what a catch is, but there is obviously still judgement involved. IMHO, by the rule, that review could have gone either way, and I understand why it was reversed (though, by rule, if it can go either way, it shouldn't be reversed). But common sense says that is a catch, and as long as there's subjectivity involved in whether a player catches a ball or not, I'd rather the decision be based on common sense than a page-long list of criteria.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

There wasn't indisputable evidence that the ball hit the ground and popped up. It was a bad call. My jimmies are still rustled.

That and he made several football moves before finally going down.

 

[nathanlt]

I don't see the issue. It wasn't a catch. When it happened and showed the replay I knew they were going to say it wasn't a catch. If you watch enough football you have seen this call before. By rule it wasn't a catch.

hmmm.... show me in the rulebook where the process of a catch has a defined end. in absence of that, knee or elbow contacting the ground is the defined end of the process.

 

[Little Jr]

hmmm.... show me in the rulebook where the process of a catch has a defined end. in absence of that, knee or elbow contacting the ground is the defined end of the process.

If you don't understand the rule and haven't seen that call before I can't help you. It wasn't a catch.

 

[ufcrules1]

Was the ruling on the field a catch? Yes.
Was there indisputable evidence to overturn the ruling on the field? No.
Did Dez make a football move common to the game? Yes.

I believe the league screwed up on this one. With about 4 mins left and the ball at the one yard, 1st and goal, this would have been set up for a classic finish.

The key thing you mentioned was "Did Dez make a football move common to the game?" and the answer to that is yes, which means Dez did not have to control the ball when he hit the ground. He already caught the ball and then switched to his dominant hand and lunged. If anything it could be ruled a fumble and recovery by Dez. It would have been awesome to watch that game play out after we got a TD there.

 

[ufcrules1]

If you don't understand the rule and haven't seen that call before I can't help you. It wasn't a catch.

Dez made a football move common to the game when he switched the ball to his dominant hand and lunged. At that point, it was officially a catch. Because he lunged, he did not have to maintain control to the ground. If anything it was fumble and recovery by Dez. First and goal at the 1/2 inch line.

 

[nathanlt]

If you don't understand the rule and haven't seen that call before I can't help you. It wasn't a catch.

You don't understand the rule. You simply love to say, "By rule..." When, of course, you haven't actually read it. I fully understand the written rule, and how inadequate it is to justify how they are using it. Apparently, Blandino intends to use that rule for things he dares not write down. NFL, put the end of the process in defined terms, or go back to simplicity. Taking away a catch that had 3 steps inbounds, then two elbows, BEFORE THE BALL EVER CONTACTED THE GROUND, IS TAMPERING.

Not to mention, there were SEVEN football moves!

1. Dez secured the ball on his right shoulder with both hands.
2. Dez transferred the ball to his left hand, without wobble!
3. Dez took 3 steps toward the goal line.
4. Dez planked off his right foot.
5. Dez rotated his body more than 90 degrees, to shield off the defender
6. Dez braced and pivoted off his right arm, his right elbow touching the ground. (Play over at this point)
7. Dez stretched his left arm toward the goal line. (Which Blandino mentioned as not being enough of a football move) What????? that's just his inner Giant fan talking.

In addition, before the ball touched the ground, (and it did, i have the freeze frame to prove it) a split second before, his left elbow hit the ground. The football was still secure in his hand, and NEVER WOBBLED from securing it on his right shoulder, through and beyond the time his second elbow hit the ground. After the ball touched the ground, it reacted and came loose from his hand. At that point, though, he had been down by contact. Blandino is so incompetent, he needs to be fired.

 

[dfan32]

H e says it is written in such a way that there can be no question....and then he completely disregards everything that is written about why it should have been a catch. I agree the written rule is unmistakable.... but they still blew it!

 

[Hoofbite]

The grey area for the rule is already as big as the Grand Canyon. It will not get any bigger by altering the rule to award completed catches in some instances, but not in others.

The rule is dumb from multiple angles.

A shovel pass where a guy is taken down prior to establishing himself as a runner and drops the ball after his knee is down would be ruled incomplete.

Move the WR behind the QB and if this player was taken down before he could "establish" himself (he actually gets the benefit of the doubt and doesn't have to) and the ball comes out after he hits the ground, the play would be over for a loss of yardage.

 

[DandyDon1722]

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3676950/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t39

Wow! Thanks Speedz she is unbelievable - could of been my future ex wife.

 

[Sportsbabe]

NFL VP of Officiating: It’s not unreasonable to watch everything Dez did and think, 'That’s a catch'
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/incoming/20150718-football_injury_44645175.jpg.ece/BINARY/w940/FOOTBALL_INJURY_44645175.JPG

NFL VP of Officiating Dean Blandino recently joined the Ben and Skin show on KRLD-FM (105.3). Here are some highlights from the interview.

On how they didn’t change the catch rule in light of Dez Bryant’s no catch in Green Bay:

“A lot of people are involved in this, the competition committee, it’s not just me and officiating. I think the bottom line is the way the rule is being written out, the way it’s being applied allows us, the officials to be consistent as possible because if you try to create a rule to make the Bryant play — It’s not just the Dez play, there were others that were ruled incomplete over the past four or five years — if you tried to make a rule to make that a catch it would become more gray and we would become less consistent on the field, which is something that no one really wants. You may agree or disagree it’s a catch but we want to be consistent in applying the rule and this rule allows us to be more consistent.”

On incorporated common sense into the catch rule:

“Obviously we want to incorporate (common sense) into the rule. That’s why we had such a lengthy discussion because so many people looked at that and said, boy that’s got to be a catch. What we want coaches and want receivers to understand is hey look, if you’re falling to the ground, you have to survive the ground. If you reach you do put yourself at risk, so make sure you secure control first before you do anything with it.”

On whether he thought Dez caught the ball even if it doesn’t fit the rule:

“It’s not unreasonable to watch that play and watch everything Dez did and think, ‘That’s a catch.’ But our rule, which I do feel is a good rule and allows us to be consistent, it’s not a catch because you have to maintain control when you land.”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...verything-dez-did-and-think-thats-a-catch.ece

Bob Sturm: There's one part of the Dez Bryant deal that amazes me

• Emmitt Smith: Murray to Eagles doesn't make them favorites over Cowboys: 'You cannot take us lightly'

• Author John Feinstein: Dez Bryant acted selfishly by threatening to miss games

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That was an unreasonable assessment. Don't continue calibrating the rule while you're watching EVERYTHING Dez does.

 

[rpntex]

I have wrestled with me feelings about this play all off season. And as much as I want that to be a catch, I see exactly what the refs see. Contact by Dez and the defender, no matter how many steps he took, is what caused him to fall IN THEIR EYES. It was not the reaching out, or leaping forward, but IN THEIR EYES, it was the sense of out of control and pushing off toward the goal line in a continuation of what they considered falling that counts.

IN THEIR EYES, HE WAS FALLING FORWARD.

One can make the argument he was stepping forward, but his body angle gave them a sense he was losing a fight with his balance. And that was precipitated by the contact.

In that light, he had to maintain control of the ball. The ball popped out of his hand. There is no disputing that.

Football move is far too subjective for anyone to assign that to what transpired.

I hate it, But I get it.

As much as it pain me to say it, that's what I see as well. I think it's impossible to declaratively state whether or not he made a "football move", or whether he was falling forward due to contact.

All that being said, I believe it should have come down to the call on the field standing for a lack of indisputable evidence necessary to overturn. I really was a coin flip...had the game officials ruled it incomplete, there'd be no evidence to overturn that, either.

The original call should have stood.

 

[Sportsbabe]

[quote="DFWJC, post: 6182482, member: 14560] I just hope and pray that wasn't our very best chance to get to the NFC Champ game and maybe the Super Bowl.

Time will tell. This year's team could very be significantly better and still not have as good a record or be in that last minutes, one yard line scenario.
It's not easy to even be in that position--especially in the current NFC.[/quote]

If there is a Football God. We shall see if it was a catch