Calvin Johnson and Dez Bryant can offer to help, but the NFL has picked the six guys they want to talk to about refining the catch rules.
According to Jarrett Bell of USA Today, the committee appointed by commissioner Roger Goodell includes Hall of Fame G.M. Bill Polian, former coaches Ken Whisenhunt, Jim Schwartz and Joe Philbin, former NFL receiver James Thrash and former side judge Tom Finken.
They’ll make recommendations to the Competition Committee about the possibility of streamlining or changing the rules about catches.
“We don’t know what will come out of it,” NFL V.P. of officiating Dean Blandino said. “Maybe there’s something the [Competition] Committee hasn’t considered in the past.”
Polian was a long-time member of the Competition Committee, and has the kind of gravitas the league needs to help extricate itself from what has become a bit of a mess.
Thrash is already working for the league in player engagement, and his 290 receptions over 12 years in the league give him the hands-on experience.
Finken worked multiple Super Bowls, and now works training officials.
Blandino said the rate of confusion over what is and is not a catch isn’t greater than it has been in the past, though it sure seems like a weekly conversation now.