NFL finally reviewing catch rule amid controversies

After a year full of controversy in games with debates of what is and isn’t a catch, the NFL is spending the offseason finally reviewing their catch rules.

The NFL caught a lot of flack during the 2017 season from fans, players, coaches and everyone in between for the blurred lines surrounding what exactly a catch is. Now, it looks like they’re trying their best to narrow down the rules for everyone to finally be sure.

With so many different instances throughout the last year of catches (or, in some cases, incompletions) being overruled in big moments of games, everyone has become incredibly restless when it comes to what is a catch in the NFL’s eyes. Between the Jesse James situation for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the New England Patriots, and the Zach Ertz situation in the Super Bowl for the Philadelphia Eagles, fans never knew what a ruling would turn out to be.

According to Troy Vincent, the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the NFL, the league spent the day on Monday reviewing different situations and topics for debate from 2017. The main aspect they reviewed: the catch or no-catch rules.

The league looks like they’re trying to get a handle on some other big issues affecting the game, like penalties and fines from targeting, fumbles out of the end zone, non-football action on the field and issues pertaining to quarterback safety. However, the biggest thing fans will focus on will definitely be the catch rules.

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The NFL saw ratings take a bit of a dip in 2017, with plenty of issues surrounding different games for different reasons. Whether it was simple rule changes for the game itself, the ambiguity of some other rules or players protesting during the National Anthem, everyone had their own reasoning for not being interested in the NFL in 2017.

Now, the league is hoping they can do their best to bring those fans back with some clarity.