MINNEAPOLIS -- As it did in Pittsburgh from mid-December onward, talk of what is and what is not a catch dominated NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's annual state of the league press conference here Wednesday.
Speaking to a packed ballroom at the Hilton Minneapolis, Goodell said he had meetings two weeks ago with a number of former players, as well as current coaches and front office people, to go over the league's catch rule. The plan moving forward is to make some recommendations to the league's competition committee, of which the Steelers' Mike Tomlin is a member.
"We spent three hours looking through 150 plays and tried to look at what we think should be a catch and what we think the rule should be to make sure that’s a catch on the field," Goodell said. "I think we have some very good ideas we’re going to submit to the competition committee."
That catch rule became a huge point of emphasis in Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the Steelers' 27-24 loss Dec. 17 at Heinz Field to New England. At the center of that storm was this play by tight end Jesse James, who was initially ruled to have made a potential game-winning touchdown catch, only to have the catch overturned via replay by the league's head of officiating, Al Riveron.
While Goodell didn't specifically mention this play, it was one of several that occurred over the course of the 2017 regular season that were highly disputed. He said even within the group of people he gathered on his committee, there were disagreements regarding what is and isn't a catch.
"When we went through those 150 plays, we had Hall of Fame players in there," Goodell said. "When you say it makes sense, there are a lot of different perspectives on that. There was disagreement within the room what was a catch and what wasn’t a catch. As an example, Cris Carter believes you should make a catch and stand up and hand it to a referee. If you don’t do that, it’s not a catch. I admire and respect him a great deal. There are others who say if you get possession and get that second foot down, it’s immediately a catch. People that have great football experience can disagree about what’s a catch."
What Goodell said was agreed on was that the league's officials did interpret the rule correctly, as it is currently written, and enforced it consistently throughout the season. But that doesn't mean the rule can't be tweaked or changed so that it is easier to understand.
"I think we have some very good ideas we’re going to submit to the competition committee," Goodell said. "There will be a lot of focus on going to the ground, which I think has been part of the confusion for everyone in respect to that rule. There’s a great opportunity here to get this rule right."
That could include completely scrapping the current rule and starting over. In fact, that would be Goodell's recommendation.
"I would like to (step) back instead of adding to the rule or subtracting from the rule, start over again and look at the rule fundamentally from the start," he said. "I think when you start adding or subtracting, it leads to confusion."
Part of the confusion this season, in particular, came from what some people deemed to be overzealousness by Riveron in looking at too many plays and taking too much time looking at replays.
For example, he reviewed the James catch/no catch play for well over four minutes before finally ruling it was not a catch.
That could change next season.
"We did have more replay interruptions this year and that is something we have to look at, that we can improve on," Goodell admitted. "How do we make our game more attractive with less stoppages, shorter stoppages? I think that’s one of the things we’re going to focus on. How do we do replay that will ensure correcting an obvious mistake but make sure it doesn’t interrupt the flow of the game?"
Other things announced or addressed by Goodell included:
• The Los Angeles Rams will host the Kansas City Chiefs in Mexico City in 2018, meaning the Steelers won't play an international game next season. The league had previously announced the teams that will play in three games in London next season but hadn't declared which teams would meet in Mexico. There had been speculation that the Steelers' game next season at Oakland could be played in Mexico. The Raiders have played in Mexico several times.
• Goodell said that while there was an increase in injuries in Thursday night games in 2017, it marks the first time in the past five seasons there were more injuries in Thursday night games than in games played on Sunday or Monday.
"We do not think that is something to overreact to," he said.
The league just sold its Thursday night package to Fox at a cost of $660 million per year over the next five years.
While many players have expressed issues with playing a game just four days after one on Sunday, given the money rolling in from those games, they're not going away. The league got $450 million in 2017 for the broadcast of its Thursday night games.
"We’ve had some talks to discuss with the players what we can do in the time leading up to the game," Goodell said. "I think the reaction is clearly mixed with the players I’ve spoken to. Obviously, most players don’t like the short week. But they sure do love the 10 days that come after that."
Goodell said the players he has spoken to treat that time after a Thursday night like an extra bye week. And so the one thing the league will make sure it doesn't do in the future is place a team's Thursday night game too close to its bye week.
• In terms of player safety overall, Goodell said that is something that is critical for the league to continue to address.
"This has been a major focus for us in trying to make our game safer at our level and every level of football," he said. "Part of that comes in the training of coaches. The teaching of the proper technique, whether they’re tackling, running, catching. Making sure we have the best possible equipment, that involves investing in research to make sure equipment advances so we can do that."