In December, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell talked about finding “a better solution” to the league’s rules governing what is and isn’t a catch and put together a committee to study the issue before making any proposals to the Competition Committee in March.
That committee is made up of Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian, former head coaches Ken Whisenhunt, Jim Schwartz and Joe Philbin, former NFL wide receiver James Thrash and former side judge Tom Finken and one of the plans was for the group to hold meetings with current and former players to get their thoughts on how to improve the rule. The first meeting on that front took place on Tuesday.
The group included one current player, Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson, and Hall of Famers Cris Carter, Steve Largent, Fred Biletnikoff and Tim Brown. Randy Moss, who will likely join the yellow-blazered crowd upon eligibility, and former tight end Chad Lewis were also part of the group.
Dez Bryant and Calvin Johnson have also expressed interest in working toward finding a rule that eliminates the confusion attached to “how [the current rule] is officiated, played, executed, and communicated.” The league calls this the first meeting, so there will presumably be others down the line that Bryant, Johnson and others can take part in as the league tries to stop the weekly conversations about whether what looks, smells and acts like a catch actually is a catch.