The Bernstein Brief: NFL Catch Rule Defies Logic
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) You can't define possession by assuming the definition of possession.
Yet that's exactly what NFL officiating vice president Dean Blandino did Monday in trying to explain the league's status quo on what constitutes a catch, a continually maddening problem that occurs at least once per week and arrives at no satisfying conclusion.
He told reporters that officials will maintain a three-item checklist: two feet down, control and a time element. The problem arose in Blandino's explanation of the third, when he said, "The rule-book definition of time is to have the ball long enough to clearly become a runner."
This is a classic example of "begging the question," the logical fallacy that assumes the argument's conclusion prematurely. Blandino uses the word "have" there as if the the receiver's possession of the ball isn't in dispute for the purpose of that specific finding, when in fact it is.
The specific question at hand is whether the receiver "has" the ball in the first place, so for one criterion of determination to already take as a given that possession exists is illogical and wrong. And that's what the NFL has apparently done.
It's more nonsense from people who have gotten too good at it.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.