Former Bills, Panthers and Colts general manager Bill Polian says that player safety trumps the clarification of what a catch is in the NFL.
Polian, part of a six-person panel that was put together to help simplify the definition of a catch, told The Washington Post that players would lose some of their protection as defenseless receivers if they no longer had to establish themselves as runners before the catch is completed.
The Hall of Fame GM is joined on this Supreme Court of Catches by former coaches Ken Whisenhunt, Jim Schwartz and Joe Philbin, former receiver James Thrash and former side judge Tom Finken. Their task is to make recommendations to the NFL’s Competition Committee to help streamline the catch rule.
However, Polian says that the league isn’t likely to compromise player-safety rules to prevent “five or 10 controversial plays a year.”
So get ready for more catch controversies, and more shoes thrown at televisions, in 2016.
