As I have been mulling over the NFL’s catch criteria, an interesting and frightening thing happened. I created a theory that the rules as written have been grossly misapplied for as long as this going to the ground criteria has been in the books. If I have misapplied logic or the rules themselves, please, for the love of god, let me know.
Fact 1: A live ball exists in one of two states only. Live possessed/Live Loose.
Fact 2: If a live loose ball comes into contact with a player that is out of bounds or one who has not re-established himself back in bounds, the ball is dead.
Fact 3: If a player is attempting to possess a live loose ball (forward pass or punt or fumble) while going to the ground, he must maintain control of this ball until the momentum that is causing him to fall is stopped. Until his momentum has stopped, he is not a ball carrier with possession, so with Fact 1 applied, the ball is still a live loose ball while he is sliding on the ground.
Theory: If a receiver attempts to catch a forward pass along the sidelines while falling out of bounds, he will inevitably slide in the out of bounds area. While he is sliding, he has not gained possession of the ball due to the going to the ground rules. Since he has not gained possession, he is an out of bounds player touching a live loose ball making the ball dead. All of these plays should be ruled incomplete pass as the rules are written.
These include fades in the endzone where a player dives to make the catch and lands out of bounds. Same thing against the sidelines. Please, please tell me I’m wrong here or there is some caveat I’m missing to these types of plays.
