ORLANDO, Fla. -- The NFL would like to issue an apology to Dez Bryant. You too, Jesse James.
Consider this an official memo from Commissioner Roger Goodell, under the heading "My Bad."
Bryant and James both caught the football on plays where NFL officials deemed they did not. Stuff happens, which is why the NFL competition committee moved Monday to embrace meaningful change in the catch/no-catch controversy.
The committee has simplified what constitutes a catch, breaking it down into three criteria: 1. Control; 2. Two feet down (or two steps) or another body part; 3. A football move such as a third step or a reach.
The proposal, which needs to be voted on by all 32 NFL owners during meetings in Orlando this week, would have changed two highly controversial plays in recent NFL history.
No. 1: The Bryant non-catch in the 2014 NFC divisional playoff game involving the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers. That would have been ruled a catch and down at the 1-yard line, and likely would have changed the outcome of the game in the Cowboys' favor.
No. 2: The Jesse James non-catch in a 2017 regular-season game involving the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers. That would have been ruled a touchdown that would likely have secured a victory for the Steelers.
"We tried to tweak. We wanted to tweak," said Rich McKay, the Atlanta Falcons' president and CEO as well as the chairman of the committee. "We've been tweaking for the last six years on this rule and we realize that's the problem."
Quick question: Why did this take so long to un-tweak the tweak? You know something is messed up when the dude into his second six-pack of Bud Light has a better understanding of the difference between a catch and an incompletion.
"I know it when I see it," to quote the famous phrase by United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart to describe his threshold test for obscenity in 1964.
Same deal here.
At least we are on the road to common sense. The NFL's competition committee has spent the past three months reviewing the mucked logic of what the standard is for a catch in today's game. This is the most intriguing of 10 rule-change proposals from a competitive standpoint.
Any rule-change proposal will require 24 votes from the 32 owners to be ratified. The odds bode well for various reasons beyond all the noise that the catch rule has generated.
Goodell has called for a new rule, and the competition committee has spent weeks going over video of past controversial plays, indicating the push for change is strong.
The revised rule would likely result in a handful of more fumbles each season as a player tries to advance the ball or reach for the goal line. That is a risk-reward the NFL is willing to take as it looks for a more appealing alternative than ruling a great play an incomplete catch.
"We've always heard the fear of the fumble," McKay said. "We looked. We've done the numbers. We're not quite as scared. And I think if you end up with 10 more fumbles in a year but you save five of the most exciting plays of the year, that's a trade you make every day."
The proposed changes will offer very little comfort to fans of the Cowboys and the Steelers. In reference to the most recent controversy, the Steelers were trailing the Patriots 27-24 when James made the apparent touchdown catch. That game was critical in determining the No. 1 AFC seed in the playoffs.
James scored with less than 30 seconds on the clock, but the TD was overturned. Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception two plays later to seal the victory for the Patriots.
So upon further review, let's clean this up for the order of clarity. We know a catch when we see one. It would be nice if the NFL is finally on board with the concept.
Sports on 03/29/2018