At the 2018 NFL league meetings, NFL owners and executives decided to make the rules pertaining to what is and what is not a catch more simple and less subjective. So, they voted to make the part of the rule defining a catch having to do with “surviving the ground.”
What does that mean? It means that since 2018, any receiver who caught the ball and maintained control to the ground while having two feet or another body part in bounds, and making a football move, had possession of the ball. No longer did the ball have to be in the player’s possession after the ball hit the ground for it to be a catch.
In a press conference following the unanimous vote, then-NFL senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron brought up several plays that would be ruled completions under the new guidelines. These included legendary non-catches by Calvin Johnson and Dez “I caught it!” Bryant.
So why, with 6:50 left in the New England Patriots’ 33-26 Thanksgiving evening loss to the Minnesota Vikings, was Patriots tight end Hunter Henry’s touchdown catch ruled a non-catch upon review by Alex Kemp’s crew? This was a ruling for a touchdown that was reversed, so you’d think there’d be absolute evidence that it wasn’t a touchdown.
The tape does not provide that evidence.
Do you agree with this being called incomplete?
pic.twitter.com/OZ8XT7AZAe— PFF (@PFF) November 25, 2022
It certainly looked as if Henry maintained control of the ball with his hand to the ground.
“I don’t know,” Henry said after the game. “They called what they called. I believe I caught it, but they made the call and we have to live with it.
“They said it hit the ground, but my hand was under it. My hand was under it even after it hit the ground. But they made the call. That’s it.”
Kemp was not made available to the media after the game, via pool reporter Mike Reiss of ESPN, but NFL VP of officiating Walt Anderson was, and here’s what he said.
Question: What did you see to determine New England’s Hunter Henry didn’t maintain control?
Anderson: “He was going to the ground, the ball ended up touching the ground and then he lost control of the ball in his hands.”
Question: Can you explain why he wasn’t granted possession before the ball hit the ground?
Anderson: “Because as he’s going to the ground, he has to maintain control of the ball upon contacting the ground. The term that’s commonly used is ‘surviving the ground’ – a lot of people refer to…
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