I think this is the problem when you put Black and White together on paper you get GREY and that is the problem with the wording in this rule
The official training me always made sure to wear a grey shirt to class so he could say that the rulebook is in black and white, but football is played in shades of grey. The more shades of grey you can see, the better of an official you'll be.
Ultimately, this boils down to a judgment call by the official on the spot as to whether the receiver has completed a catch. And that is why we get paid the big bucks, to be the ones who make that judgment call.
For your consideration: if you've got the official's manual this year, page 82 has some "when in question" scenarios. The fourth one is "catch or no catch.... no catch."
