It was a catch; the NFL is a joke

NFL officials are a joke. NFL rules are, too.

If you watched Sunday’s NFC Divisional Playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers, you know where this is going.

It was a catch. Dez Bryant’s amazing fourth-quarter play that should have given the Cowboys a first-and-goal from the Packers’ 1 was a catch. All. Day. Long.

Except in the eyes of the NFL.

Before I get into this, a couple of disclaimers:

First, I have been a Cowboys fan since I was 6 years old. Keep reading.

Second, even as a Cowboys fan, we all know there were several bad or missed calls in the Cowboys’ win over Detroit last week that helped the Cowboys reach Sunday’s game. It took the fun out of a win they may have earned anyway.

Third, this is not meant to take any credit from Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay for Sunday’s win. They earned it. Rodgers played well despite a significant injury and the Cowboys missed key opportunities.

Fourth, even if the Bryant play is ruled correctly as a catch, AND the Cowboys score, as expected, from the 1, there’s no guarantee Dallas wins. The Cowboys’ defense was already struggling to stop Rodgers and company.

All that being said, the ruling on Bryant’s catch — which it was — is horsepuckey. Like I said earlier, a joke. It was a catch.

I know there are numerous NFL officials and football “experts” saying the ruling was correct. Or that those unhappy with it are really unhappy with the rule and not the call.

No, the ruling wasn’t correct. And yes, the rule is bad.

The ruling was incorrect because of the term football move. To rule Bryant was going to the ground to make the catch assumes in the terms of the rule that he could not or did not make a football move.

I’m not sure about how it is where you live, but possessing the ball with two hands, taking three steps running and lunging for the end zone, all while contacted is about as much of a football move as you can make. The officials on the field had it right.

But not according to whoever watched the replay.

As for the rule itself, we know from the Calvin Johnson travesty four years ago that the rule is flawed. What we witnessed was a catch anywhere and everywhere, ... except in the eyes of the NFL.

They haven’t fixed the rule because the league is a joke. The officials are a joke. Their handling of domestic assault is a joke. On concussions? A joke.

I asked a friend who long ago gave up on the NFL and is a big fan of top-level soccer if his favorite sports deals with rules disasters like this.

He said, no. His explanation was that soccer had fewer rules and therefore fewer disputes. The big issues, for instance whether a shot is actually in the goal or not, can be solved with technology.

The sport’s only real issue, he said, was with diving. Whether a foul was legitimate or a flop.

But he offered this nugget. He and his family, all soccer fans, watched a big European game Sunday morning, and he said with every goal his family celebrated. An emotional release to match a sensational play.

The only time he felt like that while watching the Cowboys-Packers game, he said, was when Bryant made that sensational catch.

And then the NFL took it away.

What a joke.

This story was originally published January 11, 2015 at 8:15 PM with the headline "It was a catch; the NFL is a joke."