FanPost

It Now Definitively "Was a Catch", And I Will Never Again Suffer Anyone Claiming Otherwise

Zach Ertz caught a TD pass in tonight's Super Bowl. Or, more accurately, he was awarded a TD catch in tonight's Super Bowl. He initially grabbed the ball, took a couple of horizontal steps (which would have been ample to make it a catch under older rules), and before he could properly turn upfield, tuck the ball, or take additional steps, he began to lose his feet and so dives to the end zone. He clearly broke the plane of the end zone, and just as clearly lost the ball due to contact with the ground the moment he made ground contact, so the matter was simple: if he were a runner, it would be a no-doubt TD, but if he were not, it would not be a catch at all.

Here is the "becoming a runner" portion of the catch rule, if you aren't familiar with it:

"...until he has the ball long enough to clearly become a runner. A player has the ball long enough to become a runner when, after his second foot is on the ground, he is capable of avoiding or warding off impending contact of an opponent, tucking the ball away, turning up field, or taking additional steps"

Zach Ertz didn't properly meet any of those "runner" criteria. Mind you, it's a little hairy, and so the NFL will definitely hide behind the "clear and obvious" standard for overturning a play by replay this time around. But I'm not interested in the B.S. the NFL fields us; I am interested in facts, truth, and consistency.

The NFL had zero qualms with overturning plays this season that were FAR less "clear and obvious" overturns, so that standard is not a proper excuse, nor is it absolute protection. Zach Ertz never becomes a runner, and therefore when he rolls around in the end zone with the ball popped up it is not a catch and it never was. Gee, where have I seen that before???

In the 2014 Divisional Round game, Dez Bryant grabbed the ball in the air, touched down with both feet, and was able to lunge the ball towards the end zone, falling short of it and having the ball pop up once his forearm hit the ground. According to the catch rule at the time, Bryant needed only to meet a vague "make a football move" standard to establish himself as a runner, period, end of story. While it can be debated whether he (this is important, if the NFL had any consistency) definitely made a football move, the call on the field was a "catch", and so the burden of proof for an overturn was Bryant clearly failing to make a football move. He did not clearly fail, and so it should have been a catch.

Earlier in the game tonight, Corey Clement had a controversial TD catch of his own. I absolutely understand why it was called a TD in the moment by the referees, but review makes it clear what actually happened: Clement had the ball loosely secured in his fingertips for a moment (not control, so not a catch), then shifted the ball in an attempt to gain control only to have the ball bounce around throughout his hand "cradle" (no control). For some reason, the official NFL clip above that contains a number of angles leaves out the one that most clearly shows the ball moving almost continually, but sorry not sorry, that ball never reaches the standard of control. Of course, you know the way the call went.

The NFL controls replay now from a central location, and despite stating otherwise does NOT in any way apply a "clear and obvious" standard for overturning replays. The league can call it as it likes, which is already shady enough. But here we had TWO plays that did not meet the standard of the rule as it currently stands...and yet no overturn.

In 2014, with catch language that was more ambiguous, Dez Bryant made a grab that absolutely, unequivocally, MIGHT have met the catch rule (I would argue that it did, but I can admit that the rule is subjective and vague enough that it could go either way). Had that grab originally been ruled "not a catch", I would never, ever care to complain about the call not being overturned to a "catch". But they called it a catch on the field, and by their own procedures the margin for error in the catch rule language of the time should have protected it from an overturn.

Screw the NFL's broken catch rule. Screw the NFL for not holding itself to clear overturn standards and making calls any way it wants. And most of all, with tonight still fresh in my mind, screw the league for not overturning TWO plays that helped bless the Eagles to an undeserved championship while having no problem with screwing over the Dallas Cowboys with an overturn of a catch that was without any doubt closer to being one.

So that's the last straw. It was a catch, and screw anyone who says otherwise. I've had it, and so should you.

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