Press "Enter" to skip to content

Can we figure out what a catch is, please?

On Sept. 12, the Chicago Bears played the Detroit Lions on the opening Sunday of the 2010 NFL season.

The Bears held a slim 19-14 lead, when the Lions’ Shaun Hill drove down the field and tossed a perfect pass to star receiver Calvin Johnson.

Johnson caught, secured and went down with the ball and started celebrating what was an obvious touchdown. Right?

Well, the refs said otherwise, as Johnson left the pigskin on the ground as he came down with the catch, making the pass incomplete.

This would go on to be known as the “Calvin Johnson” rule, and the Bears went on to win due to the hazy ruling.

It’s comforting to know that five years later, we still have no idea what constitutes as a catch.

The NFL’s rules on how to make a catch are as follows:

1. Secure the football.

2. Have both feet on the ground.

3. Make a football move.

That’s it, unless the NFL has a secret handbook they bust out for select games and the playoffs.

But the Texas-sized controversy lies in what the NFL calls a “football move.”

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant fell victim to this rule in last year’s playoffs against the Green Bay Packers Jan. 11, 2015.

Bryant smothered the ball in his hands, got his feet on the snowy turf and lunged forward. Once he hit the ground, the football fell out of his paws ever so slightly, allowing the refs to rule the pass incomplete.

To this day, if you ask a Cowboy fan if Bryant caught the ball, you will be drowned with conspiracy theories and sadness. But that’s besides the point.

Following the Bryant debacle, the NFL removed the words “football move” from the official rulebook.

So, now, we may never know.

Great.

The real crux of the matter here isn’t lack of clarity; even the casual NFL fan can determine if an NFL player caught a football or not.

It means that NFL teams really are at the mercy of the officials who are reffing that game.

More than halfway through the 2015 NFL season, we’ve already had our fair share of referee issues.

In a game against Washington Oct. 11, 2015, Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman caught a pass over the middle, had his feet on the turf and dove into the endzone for a touchdown.

Right? No.

Apparently not, as Freeman supposedly lost control of the ball as he was falling to the ground.

Granted, the stakes weren’t as high as Bryant’s faux catch was in the playoffs, but nonetheless, it’s still idiotic.

The NFL, which prides itself on the most exciting product, the biggest crowds and the highest TV ratings of any sport, has become extremely boring.

An incomplete pass is the most mundane thing in football, and the refs are showing they prefer that over a catch.

Obviously, if a catch isn’t a catch, then it should be ruled as such.

But when it comes to the nitty-gritty stuff, they’ve been willing to make the game slow and uninteresting for the sake of a controversial rule that no one understands.

If there’s one thing we can take from this head-scratching wreck, at least we’ve come full circle.

On Oct. 18, 2015, the Bears played the Lions, and Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford threw a pass to receiver Golden Tate around the goal line.

Tate hypothetically caught the ball, had his feet down and crossed into the endzone. But, lo and behold, he lost the football in the air, and it was promptly intercepted by Bears linebacker Jonathan Anderson.

The refs said he caught the football and scored, overrulling everything the referee ruled during that fateful game in 2010.

It’s interesting to note the head referees were different for those two games.

I’m not trying to start any conspiracy theories here, but this system encourages dishonesty and needs to be revised.

We really don’t want anymore fan bases to end up like Dallas’.

Copyright © 2023, The Scout, Bradley University. All rights reserved.
The Scout is published by members of the student body of Bradley University. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the University.