NFL owners approve several significant rule changes
The NFL officially changed its controversial catch rule as owners voted unanimously for a new definition of what is a reception.
No longer does a receiver have to “survive the ground.” No longer does the slight movement of the ball in the receiver’s hands nullify the catch.
Instead, at the owners meetings in Orlando, Florida, they voted 32-0 to define a catch as follows: The receiver must 1) control of the ball, 2) have two feet or another body part down, and 3) make a football move.
New NFL catch rule was just passed unanimously by NFL owners, 32-0.
1) Control
2) 2 feet down or another body part
3) A football move, such as
– A 3rd step
– Reaching/extending for the line to gain
– Or the ability to perform such an act— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 27, 2018
A football move is described as taking a third step, reaching/extending for the line-to-gain, or the showing ability to perform such an act.
So the play by the Steelers’ Jesse James in Week 15 against the Patriots will be a catch next season.
“Our goal was to simplify and provide clarity and I think we’ve done that,” competition committee member and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said via USA Today. “As a committee, we were very comfortable with what we presented to membership.”
So under the new rules, if the ball pops loose when the receiver hits the ground, and he’s not touched, it will be a fumble, not an incompletion.
Of course, the new rule will still be open to interpretation. As former NFL Head of Officiating Dean Blandino told ESPN, it will just shift the debate from, “Did he survive the ground?” to “Did he make a football move?”
“If the receiver performs an act common to the game,” Blandino said, “if he performs a football move, whatever you want to call it, on the way to the ground, if you say that supersedes him having to hold the ball all the way to the ground, then that adds another layer of judgment for the official and in replay.”
The owners also approved a new rule that allows a member of the NFL’s officiating department to instruct on-field refs to eject a player who commits “a flagrant non-football act.” Previously, only refs on the field could eject a player.
The playing rules & bylaws approved by @NFL clubs this morning pic.twitter.com/vyfeqLybLl
— Michael Signora (@NFLfootballinfo) March 27, 2018
Also, the owners voted to make permanent the rule that puts the ball on the 25-yard line after a touchback. Last year it was instituted as a temporary rule.
The “Josh McDaniels Rule,” which would have allowed assistant coaches to be hired by other teams while the team is still in the playoffs, has been tabled.
McDaniels, New England’s offensive coordinator, accepted the Colts head coaching job one day after the Pats lost the Super Bowl, only to back out the next day and remain with the Patriots. It left the Colts temporarily high and dry after waiting through the postseason for McDaniels.
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