TD or NO TD

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

This is where the consistency gets really nice. If a receiver catches the pass and gets hit immediately causing the ball to come out, it's incomplete. If he crashes into the goal support immediately after catching the ball, it's incomplete. If the goal support is well behind the end line he may have had a few steps before hitting it. Then it would be complete. If he goes to the ground a few steps after catching it, then it's complete.

So then the action of falling is not the be-all & end-all of defining an interval in which the player must retain control of the ball. A few steps is sufficient even if the player is falling while stepping (and at the end of that fall hits the ground or a goal support).

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

So then the action of falling is not the be-all & end-all of defining an interval in which the player must retain control of the ball. A few steps is sufficient even if the player is falling while stepping (and at the end of that fall hits the ground or a goal support).

If he's going to the ground in the process of completing the catch, then he must maintain possession even if there are a couple steps. That's a pretty rare combination and there could be some judgement involved. After watching a few plays it becomes much easier to identify this action.