NFL "football move"

[emceemc]

I saw a receiver make a fine catch in a bad weather game. He catches the ball with both hands as he slides a full 5 yards on his shoulder to the side line. He never makes any attempt to tuck the ball, run, or anything else. He purposely remained still to avoid losing the ball. There is no "football move" there. Nor is there a football move in many sideline catches. Nor is there a football move in many mid-field or end-zone plays. The rule seems to be a football move is not required unless the ball is dropped. Is a football move required to complete a catch or not? And doesn't the rule, whatever it is, just force the referee into a difficult and unnecesary judgement call?

[Mark Dexter]

I'm going to take a guess here based on what I've seen and what I've heard the commentators say over the past few weeks of NFL games.

To make a completed catch, you must have posession of the football. Nine times out of ten, posession only involves the reciever.

However, in a case where the reciever gets his hand(s) on the ball, and then the ball is knocked away by a defender, the "football move" is a guideline for calling a pass incomplete/calling it a catch followed by a fumble. If the reciever does not turn upfield or make some sort of football move to prove that he has posession, then it is assumed he did not have posession and the pass is ruled incomplete.

[Bob M.]

REPLY: The concept of a "football move" is in concert with the NFL's theory of no cheap turnovers. They would prefer a ruling of incomplete pass than a bang-bang catch-fumble.

[mcrowder]

"football-related move" is a guideline, not a rule. There's no mention of this requirement to make a football move in the rulebook. All that there is in the rulebook is the requirement that the player have possession of the ball. "Football-related move" is an aid to help determine whether he had possession in plays where the player is hit or disrupted at or near the time the ball comes to the receiver.

If a receiver makes a catch, and for some reason remains motionless for a couple of seconds, and is then hit, it is a fumble, even though there was no "football-related move".