It’s a good rule
Jan 12, 2015, 6:13 PM | Updated: 6:13 pm
Dez Bryant caught the ball. He made a football move the moment he brought his arm forward, with the ball in his left hand, toward the goal line. That’s how I saw it and that’s how the side judge saw it. But the call was overturned. New York ruled it wasn’t a catch. And I suppose, if pressed, I see their point. The call could have gone either way. It was the definition of a judgment call.
That’s not my problem. I’m losing my mind because people are now screaming at the rule itself, the Calvin Johnson Rule, where a receiver must possess the ball all the way to — and through — the ground. They say it’s a bad rule.
It’s not a bad rule. Throwing ticky-tack illegal contact flags on the defense for merely rerouting receivers on their stem is a bad rule, especially when it gives the offense an automatic first-down. THAT is a bad rule.
Now we have people up in arms over the Calvin Johnson Rule. They say it’s a rule that has to go. This makes me want to roll on the ground and commence gouging the eyes. ANYTHING THAT MAKES PLAYING OFFENSIVE FOOTBALL MORE DIFFICULT — even in the least — IS A GOOD THING IN TODAY’S GAME! Give the defense a fighting chance, please. Demand the offense actually EXECUTE something correctly, please!
We all know, anybody that follows and understands the game, the rules are stacked against the defense to begin with. We all understand this, right? All the rule asks is that a receiver possesses the ball through the catch when going to the ground. It isn’t easy, I get that, too bad! Catch the ball and control it through the catch. Be a pro.
It’s not like offenses are having difficulty lighting up the scoreboard.