Uncatchable

[ML99]

How do you define "uncatchable" (NCAA) for yourself. I have been in many crews and every referee has a different opinion of what an uncatchable pass is.

I know that you would say: no possibility to reach the ball - but what does that mean in reality? ... how many meters/yards should the ball be away in order to call it uncatchable?

[mbyron]

I do only NFHS, so I don't need a definition of 'uncatchable'. The term does not appear in the rules.

[JasonTX]

We have the definition in NCAA, but not sure if this helps. It really comes down to your own personal judgement. If there is question, then the rule says it is catchable. If I see a play and my judgement tells me there is no way he could have caught a pass, then it's uncatchable. What I judge to be that, may not be the same as what you judge. I know you already knew all that so I'm just thinking out loud.

A catchable forward pass is an untouched legal forward
pass beyond the neutral zone to an eligible player who has a reasonable
opportunity to catch the ball. When in question, a legal forward pass is
catchable.

[Texas Aggie]

To me, if the ball lands inbounds or only slightly out of bounds, the presumption is that it is catchable. That presumption can, of course, be overcome by other things, but as Jason said, in NCAA, its catchable until it isn't!

One other thing to think about: when the receiver basically gives up on a ball. When I work back judge, the receiver still has to make the effort, to the extent he can, to get to the ball. If he's knocked down, get's spun around, or otherwise is taken out of the play by the contact of the defender, then this isn't really an issue. However, if he simply gets blocked and then gives up, I'm not going to bail him out with a call even if he possibly could get to the ball. This happens more at the lower levels than it does at the varsity or college level, but I have seen even those receivers go out of bounds and just expect a flag to be thrown.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by Texas Aggie

One other thing to think about: when the receiver basically gives up on a ball. When I work back judge, the receiver still has to make the effort, to the extent he can, to get to the ball. If he's knocked down, get's spun around, or otherwise is taken out of the play by the contact of the defender, then this isn't really an issue. However, if he simply gets blocked and then gives up, I'm not going to bail him out with a call even if he possibly could get to the ball. This happens more at the lower levels than it does at the varsity or college level, but I have seen even those receivers go out of bounds and just expect a flag to be thrown.

Why do you rule that way? If the act of interference (or in your opinion, what would have been interference had the potential receiver kept after the ball) took place at a given time, what difference should it make to the team's options, other than to allow the play to stand, how the player acted after the interference? For instance, if the ball is thrown and then he "simply gets blocked and then gives up", but it appears that the ball would have been catchable by that player had not the interference taken place, why shouldn't the player expect the flag to be thrown, even if he just sits down at that point?

How about this one: B1 enters the neutral zone, and A1, seeing that, calls for the snap and spikes the ball. Do you void the encroachment because A1, satisfied to draw the foul instead of making an attempt to play, didn't justify the penalty?

[ML99]

Hmmm ... thanks for your comments - I thought that answering this question isn't easy because everyone has a different understanding for uncatchable. I also think that there is a difference for uncatchable if the player is overthrown (ball over his head) or if the ball is thrown sideways/lateral away from the player.

Would you call a pass uncatchable if the player really tries to get to the ball, but he is:
a) overthrown by 1yrd
b) overthrown by 2yrds
c) overthrown by 3yrds
d) overthrown by 4yrds

e) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 1yrd
f) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 2yrds
g) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 3yrds
h) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 4yrds
i) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 5yrds

I know - stupid question, but somewhere you have to draw a line in the sand ....

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by ML99

Hmmm ... thanks for your comments - I thought that answering this question isn't easy because everyone has a different understanding for uncatchable. I also think that there is a difference for uncatchable if the player is overthrown (ball over his head) or if the ball is thrown sideways/lateral away from the player.

Would you call a pass uncatchable if the player really tries to get to the ball, but he is:
a) overthrown by 1yrd
b) overthrown by 2yrds
c) overthrown by 3yrds
d) overthrown by 4yrds

e) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 1yrd
f) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 2yrds
g) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 3yrds
h) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 4yrds
i) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 5yrds

I know - stupid question, but somewhere you have to draw a line in the sand ....

That's not how officiating judgment works. You don't determine a set distance from the receiver and then look for that distance. Doing so fails to take into account too many variables (player ability, weather, game situation, etc.).

The rules leave a great deal up to officials' judgment. There's a reason for that, and your efforts to define away judgment will be futile.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by ML99

Hmmm ... thanks for your comments - I thought that answering this question isn't easy because everyone has a different understanding for uncatchable. I also think that there is a difference for uncatchable if the player is overthrown (ball over his head) or if the ball is thrown sideways/lateral away from the player.

Would you call a pass uncatchable if the player really tries to get to the ball, but he is:
a) overthrown by 1yrd
b) overthrown by 2yrds
c) overthrown by 3yrds
d) overthrown by 4yrds

e) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 1yrd
f) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 2yrds
g) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 3yrds
h) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 4yrds
i) ball is thrown sidways away from the player 5yrds

I know - stupid question, but somewhere you have to draw a line in the sand ....

Don't you think that instead of being based on a distance, it would be on a judgment of whether the player could have gotten there absent the interference? That could be a variable distance depending on how much the player could've been knocked off line, and how far the player and the ball still had to move after the interference took place.

For instance, if the interferer just knocked away the potential receiver's hands as they were jumping straight up for the ball, it would just be a question of whether the ball was too high to reach. OTOH, if the interferer grabbed the potential receiver while a "bomb" throw was still rising, and it eventually came down a long way away from either of them, there's hardly any place on the field the offended player couldn't've gotten to in that time -- and I don't care if the offended player does give up on the ball in that case, he "earns" the penalty option without working for it.