Last season the Dallas Cowboys had walked off the field with a loss under their column after a questionable call from the refs during a playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. Cowboys’ wide receiver Dez Bryant had made a ridiculous catch that had put the Cowboys in the driver seat to beat the Green Bay Packers’, but was called an uncompleted pass, because he did not maintain control throughout the entire process of the catch.
In March, the NFL’s Competition Committee tweaked the rule’s language to state a player must “clearly establish himself as a runner” It was an effort to clarify confusion over whether Bryant’s two-step lunge toward the end zone was indeed a football move, but yet the play still would’ve been ruled incomplete based on the new wording.
This past weekend the league held its annual Officiating Clinic in Dallas and once again the the “catch” was brought back up in the spotlight again. NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino told reporters he made an effort to discuss the rule in person with the Cowboys’ coaches this offseason and made sure that each of them knew the stipulations within the catch. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones also was asked about the play again Tuesday during the opening of Dallas Cowboys Club at DFW Airport and he gave an in-depth analysis about the rule.
“Well, first of all Dean does an amazing job and I think overall the league and our officiating department does an amazing job,” Jones said. “I happen to serve on the Competition Committee and probably have a better feel for how difficult it can be in terms of the task of officiating a game and getting it right for our fans. No one wants it more right than Dean Blandino. No one wants it right more than the commissioner and the officiating crews. We want to get it right. That’s why we have a Competition Committee and why well continue to look at those things.”
“As it turns out, according to the rule, I think the call was correct. Now going forward is their a way that we could improve some of these plays that are made by great players like Dez Bryant or a Calvin Johnson. Will there ever be a way to tweak a rule to where you can say, ‘Hey those guys really caught those footballs and they should be catches even under the NFL rules?’ Well, that’s the job of the Competition Committee and for us to continue to look at ways to improve and make sure that the rules are efficient.”
“I applaud everything Dean has done. I think he’s done a great job of verbalizing not only with the coaches, but with the players and his officiating crews that he has out there on the field.”