NFL’s Competition Committee Finalizes New Catch Rule Proposal
Mar 22, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: Jan 4, 2019, 11:25 am
(Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
Calvin caught it…
So did Dez…
And Jesse James.
The NFL’s rulemaking competition committee has completed its proposal attempting to simplify the controversial catch rule.
The committee’s proposal will be presented to team owners at the league’s annual meeting next week. It must be ratified by at least 24 of the 32 NFL teams and, if approved, would take effect next season.
Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, said in a phone interview Tuesday that the new rule no longer requires a receiver who goes to the ground while making a catch to maintain possession of the football while on the turf to be awarded a legal catch. Slight movement of the football while in the receiver’s hands detected via instant replay review no longer will result in an incompletion as long as the receiver is deemed to have control of the football, Vincent said.