Competition Committee Tweaking Language Of 'Calvin Johnson Rule'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
PHOENIX - The NFL competition committee will make an adjustment to the rulebook definition of a catch - known in Detroit as the "Calvin Johnson rule" - in wake of the polarizing reversal of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant's fourth-quarter catch in his team's playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.
The change in the rule will be minimal, as Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, the chairman of the committee, promised in the Wednesday press conference previewing this week's owners meetings.
New York Giants owner John Mara, a member of the committee, confirmed as much Sunday at the Arizona Biltmore.
"It's nothing significant," Mara said. "I think it involves you've got to have two feet on the ground and clearly demonstrate that you're a runner. It's to that effect.
"We looked at so much tape on that," Mara continued. "We made a little tweak to the language, but it's really not going to change. It's not going to change the Dez Bryant play to a catch or any of the other ones ... One of the issues is that the players today are so athletic and make such acrobatic catches that it makes it more challenging. If you push the line any further back and look at the tape on plays - again, we're sitting there in a room and there are nine of us, three coaches and some general managers, and half of the time we're split on whether it's a catch versus a non-catch, so I just thought that changing the language at this point was probably not the way to go."
Mara also spoke on the possibility of playoff expansion, which is expected to be discussed this week. While Mara does not necessarily love the idea, he believes the expansion is inevitable.
"I think it's going to happen at some point, but it just doesn't look like it's going to happen for [2015]," Mara said. "I prefer it the way it is, but I don't feel as strongly about it really, maybe, as I once did, because it is going to happen. One of my concerns about it was when are you going to play those extra games, and one of the proposals is you play it on a Monday night, and I just think playing on a Monday night in January in the northern climates is not the ideal way to go. However, Saturday would be a possibility, and that to me is much more palatable."
Among other league business set to be discussed this week are more than a dozen proposals pertaining to instant replay, one of which the Detroit Lions pitched in wake of a fourth-quarter pass interference call - a flag was thrown and then picked up - that went against them in their playoff loss to the Dallas Cowboys.