The NFL has made clarifying the Catch Rule a priority this off-season, and it appears the various meetings of the minds the league has held over the past few months have produced a consensus.
And here is that consensus, tweeted Wednesday by NFL senior VP for officiating Al Riveron.
Setting aside that any bar-approved litigator or annoying little brother could argue the heck out of what exactly constitutes "control," let's all skip again to Subset 3 on Point 3. What, exactly, constitutes "the ability to perform such an act?"
The guess here is that a player makes a catch, gets two feet down and then is tackled before he has the ability to plant a third step. But that's just a guess.
Riveron also confirmed that Dez Bryant's nullified catch from the 2015 NFC Divisional Playoffs and Jesse James's nullified touchdown grab from the Pittsburgh Steelers' December loss to the New England Patriots would now officially stand as catches had they occurred in 2018.
There's always going to be ambiguity in the Catch Rule, but what's important here is the spirit behind it. If it looks like a catch, it's a catch. We hope.