Dean Blandino Thinks The NFl Catch Rule Is Perfectly Fine, and I Think His Negligence Is Intentional

LBS-  Dean Blandino, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, doesn’t think the league’s catch rule needs fixing.

Despite controversy after controversy, Blandino thinks the rule only needs to be tweaked – if that.
“We think that the rule is in a good place right now,” Blandino said on NFL Network Sunday, via NFL Media’s Kevin Patra.

“I really feel it’s just communicating the rule and educating and showing video examples of what is and what isn’t a catch. There’s a subjective element to the rule so there’s always going to be those plays where we debate that subjective element. That’s just part of it. That goes for other calls that are made during the game — pass interference, offensive holding…

“Maybe there’s another tweak that maybe we can make in the rule to make it easier to understand. But I don’t anticipate any major changes.”




I am sure you have heard someone refer to professional sports as the world's best soap opera by now. Well, what is consistent about all soap operas? That's right. The content is all carefully devised beforehand. Now, I am not going to sit here and tell you the NFL is scripted, even though it certainly seems like it is sometimes. I will tell you that some controversy is good for business, and what creates more guaranteed controversy than the uncertainty surrounding what is and what isn't a catch? The only rational justification for not changing a rule that is so universally criticized is that it gets people talking, and I have to imagine that's the only reason this particular rule will remain in place. It's either that or Dean Blandino is a functional retard, because the one thing that every person -that has watched more than a half of NFL football this year- knows is that they have no fucking idea what constitutes a catch anymore. I appreciate Dean's explanation. He definitely hit all the key words (subjective, communicating, educating, examples, etc, etc.). However, in doing so he basically just admitted that even the people in charge of making the calls don't have a full understanding of them. Pretty sure that's a telltale sign that it's in need of some tinkering. 

The main problem is that no matter how watered-down professional football becomes, sports fans won't stop watching. The NFL isn't worried about those people, they are worried about the casual fans. The people that tune in here and there, but don't make it appointment television. You know what draws those people in? Conflict. Debate. That's what gets the people talking at the water cooler. That's what gets oft-discussed segments on sports media. Not fair competition that goes off without a hitch. How does it benefit the NFL to make their product more aesthetically pleasing when polarizing plays are sure to gain them more publicity? Every stupid play that Mike Carey inevitably gets wrong is like free marketing. The only cost is that it comes at the expense of uninterrupted football and, judging by the amount of commercial that we have to watch every Sunday, uninterrupted football doesn't pay the bills. Dean Blandino is a shitty VP of officiating, but -for the same reason that reality television doesn't consist of very much reality at all- he's a hell of a business man.