Video: Tony Romo Said That Was a Catch; I Agree

[Aerolithe_Lion]

The rules at the time were:

1. Control
2. Two feet in bounds
3. “Time” to make a football

Once those 3 steps are complete he’s a runner.
Not only did he have time to, he actually made at least two football moves.
1. Switching the ball from two hands to one after he brought if you his shoulder.
2. And lunging

There is an additional rule you’re missing there:

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.

This supersedes the 2 step rule, the football move rule, and anything after that. Dez was attempting his lunge and no longer upright before he had 2 feet down and made a football move. That means this is now what determines if he caught it or not and not the 2 step + football move, even though he took many steps.

The problem with this rule is it doesn’t differentiate whether it’s involuntarily falling over or whether it’s the runner intentionally bending over to push for the end zone, which Dez was. So they changed it to make sure that doesn’t happen again in the future. The ref wasn’t at fault, the rule was. It was a good call on a bad rule.

 

[GMO415]

Romo should never enter the HOF without buying a ticket first.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

The rules at the time were:

1. Control
2. Two feet in bounds
3. “Time” to make a football

Once those 3 steps are complete he’s a runner.
Not only did he have time to, he actually made at least two football moves.
1. Switching the ball from two hands to one after he brought if you his shoulder.
2. And lunging

Taking one hand off the ball, to brace for impact with the ground or bracing for impact from an oncoming player, is a football move.

So the problem with the NFL rule is that they don't realize bracing for impact is a football move. Idiots.

 

[stuckindc]

Why do this to yourselves?

Really, really wanting it to be so still doesn't make it so. Just grasp the ball and go down and we're in business. Can't blame Dez for trying to score but the rule was what it was. At least it can never happen like that again. Beasley was there in the flat for what it's worth.

There was 4 minutes left and Aaron was to have the ball.

 

[CTcowboy203]

I’m over this game but it’s crazy to go back now and see that and realize they said that wasn’t a catch. Doesn’t even seem real lol

 

[America's Cowboy]

This is what I meant by "why do this to yourselves?" @Aerolithe_Lion shows you that the ruling was correct by the rules at the time and still people continue their misinformation campaigns because they really, really wanted it to be so. I'm convinced that politicians saw these message boards then and thought to themselves, "You know? I think we've got something here" and thus "the media reporting stuff we don't like is the problem" was born, lol.

As for the rules, everyone yapping about this being catch just doesn't know them or their application before they were changed. There was simply a yes/no determination when it came to "going to the ground." Once you had that tag slapped on you, you had to keep the ball off the ground and/or maintain complete possession after you contact the ground. "Surviving the ground" was the term used. Dez was ruled as "going to the ground" so that applied, period. You could not complete the "upright" process of a catch rule while going to the ground back then. The only thing per the rules that would allow you to get out of a "going to the ground" label then was to execute a proper lunge because doing that shows you're not going to the ground and are under control, which is why the rules used the phrase, "...gathers himself...". Dez intended to execute a lunge but his 3rd step on the ground slipped and he was unable to.

Here's the best explanation I found when I debated the world on this play several years ago. He also called the overturn on live TV before it was announced.

NFL said it was a catch 3 years later before they altered the rule. Argue all you want, you are wrong.

 

[CouchCoach]

Who cares? The D couldn't stop GB and get the ball back and knew they were burning clock at the end.

I can make a case that was a really stupid play. The objective was to score and leave little time for GB to come back and 4 minutes+ to Rodgers is a gift. Just another case of the HC using the term situational football and not understanding what that is.

 

[America's Cowboy]

There is an additional rule you’re missing there:

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.

This supersedes the 2 step rule, the football move rule, and anything after that. Dez was attempting his lunge and no longer upright before he had 2 feet down and made a football move. That means this is now what determines if he caught it or not and not the 2 step + football move, even though he took many steps.

The problem with this rule is it doesn’t differentiate whether it’s involuntarily falling over or whether it’s the runner intentionally bending over to push for the end zone, which Dez was. So they changed it to make sure that doesn’t happen again in the future. The ref wasn’t at fault, the rule was. It was a good call on a bad rule.

This makes no sense. How can anyone be attempting a lunge before having 2 feet down? Does the body contort and step on air to help it push off and lunge forward or what???

 

[MarcusRock]

There is an additional rule you’re missing there:

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.

This supersedes the 2 step rule, the football move rule, and anything after that. Dez was attempting his lunge and no longer upright before he had 2 feet down and made a football move. That means this is now what determines if he caught it or not and not the 2 step + football move, even though he took many steps.

The problem with this rule is it doesn’t differentiate whether it’s involuntarily falling over or whether it’s the runner intentionally bending over to push for the end zone, which Dez was. So they changed it to make sure that doesn’t happen again in the future. The ref wasn’t at fault, the rule was. It was a good call on a bad rule.

What? Someone leaving out a part of the rule that doesn't support their case? The hell you say!

 

[MarcusRock]

NFL said it was a catch 3 years later before they altered the rule. Argue all you want, you are wrong.

You saw the link posted. You sure as hell aren't going to be able to produce anything that dispels that, are you? So just repeat the lie and it'll become true. I told you politicians were here watching, lol.

 

[Sarge]

Catch or no catch? What I rarely if ever see is the fact that Aaron Rodgers still had 5 minutes to work with. I think we know how that story ends.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

This makes no sense. How can anyone be attempting a lunge before having 2 feet down? Does the body contort and step on air to help it push off and lunge forward or what???

there isn’t a required amount of feet for beginning a fall to the ground. What happens when guys leap up, catch it, and then fall on their side? Do you feel they haven’t hit the ground yet because it makes no sense that they didn’t have 2 feet down first?

Dez goes up in a trajectory that makes him lean toward the end zone before he even has both feet on the ground. When the first foot goes down, he’s clearly not fully upright and further leaning toward the end zone. He’s no longer a runner well before any 2 feet rule is in play.

Could he have simply stopped after the second step and stood up normally? No, he had lost his balance and was stumbling to maintain upright posture long before that in his attempt to reach the end zone. By catch rule, He was no longer a runner at the point the first foot went down

 

[sunalsorises]

Of course it was a catch. Everyone has pretty much said that at this point. The bigger travesty with the call is that it was overturned despite a lack of irrefutable evidence which is the standard for overturning a call.

It was a blown call and a poorly executed review process. If you want to ease the sting of this talk to a Saints fan.

 

[nalam]

Why do this to yourselves?

Really, really wanting it to be so still doesn't make it so. Just grasp the ball and go down and we're in business. Can't blame Dez for trying to score but the rule was what it was. At least it can never happen like that again. Beasley was there in the flat for what it's worth.

agree if Dez didnt try to score it would be simple catch. But the problem I had with the interpretation of rule in the replay opinion was he didnt make a foot ball move , but he did. He shifted the ball from right to left and extended left arm to score . In that case it should be good as initially ruled, the ball hits the ground before EZ as ground cant cause fumble. But the crooked replay decision , it was not a catch was so bad it still doesn’t sit well with lot of Fans .

 

[visionary]

This is why you can't snub Romo from the HOF. He got snubbed.

why do Cowboys fans only live in the past?

Answer: because there is little hope for any meaningful success in the future as long as moron Jerry is alive

 

[Kevinicus]

What was the rule at the time? It's a catch IF you grab the ball while controlled and take at least 2 steps to prove you made a move with the ball in hand? Dez did that. The officials on the field initially called it a catch, but the crooked officials in New York (part of the camera review) overruled it and called it not a catch. Almost 3 years later, the NFL's Review Board wholeheartedly agreed that it was a catch and should have been ruled a catch.

According to the originally poorly worded rule, and how it had been interpreted up until that play, it was a catch. The NFL botched it, went on a misinformation campaign, "clarified" the rule and made it much worse, then ultimately had to redo it to mean the same thing that it did before, but worded better so that even they weren't confused by it.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

agree if Dez didnt try to score it would be simple catch. But the problem I had with the interpretation of rule in the replay opinion was he didnt make a foot ball move , but he did. He shifted the ball from right to left and extended left arm to score . In that case it should be good as initially ruled, the ball hits the ground before EZ as ground cant cause fumble. But the crooked replay decision , it was not a catch was so bad it still doesn’t sit well with lot of Fans .

the two step and football move rule is not in play when the receiver is going to the ground. Dez stumbled out of the catch and instead of repositioning himself as a runner, committed to it a lunge for the end zone. The whole act was ruled going to the ground due to him not having upright balance. There was no 2 step rule or football move in play there. He was required to maintain possession through going to the ground.

 

[Kevinicus]

There is an additional rule you’re missing there:

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.

This supersedes the 2 step rule, the football move rule, and anything after that. Dez was attempting his lunge and no longer upright before he had 2 feet down and made a football move. That means this is now what determines if he caught it or not and not the 2 step + football move, even though he took many steps.

The problem with this rule is it doesn’t differentiate whether it’s involuntarily falling over or whether it’s the runner intentionally bending over to push for the end zone, which Dez was. So they changed it to make sure that doesn’t happen again in the future. The ref wasn’t at fault, the rule was. It was a good call on a bad rule.

This is not accurate.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

This is not accurate.

yes it is. The head of officiating explained it just like this; people here chose not to listen. This was a rule only changed after the Dez catch. He explains at the 30 second mark:

 

[G2]

FFS, it wasn't a catch.

Should have gone short for a first down.