NFL "football move"

[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".