NFL Catch Rule vs. NCAA & NFHS

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by FormerUmp

I think the argument in favor of this being a TD is that he clearly made a clean catch with control of the ball and lunged for the endzone, only losing control after the ball had broken the plane. People are seeing that as a football move. Given the inconsistent way that replay decisions have been made this year, with several decisions not being supported by video, it should be no surprise that high-profile calls are getting even more attention than usual. Also, technically, he survived his "initial contact with the ground," which was his knee, then lunged for the endzone, losing the ball after that.

I do think it's worth exploring if there's a way to modify the rule so that this play and others like it are touchdowns, as they should be, in my opinion. The key would be to do it in such a way that it's not going to lead to a bunch of cheap turnovers in the field of play. Perhaps a rule change that only applies to the endzone?

To argue you that you are adding a lot of additional information that is irrelevant. He's clearly going to the ground as part of making the catch so the only thing you have to worry about is if he maintains control and the ball doesn't hit the ground if it comes loose. If that doesn't happen you have a catch. Now you are dealing with location of the ball when the knee hits under NCAA/NFHS rules. If you are going to change the rule to somehow allow these to be catches you are going to be adding a ton of subjectivity to the call and a lot more inconsistency. I'd rather not go back to that.