Clearing up Wheatons "catch"

Yea I thought I was in bazarro land for a minute as well but my wife pointed out what really was called...I taught her well.

 

wouldn't it come down to whether the CB forced him out? I know the rule is if you voluntarily go out of bounds you can't be the first to touch..but I think the rule is different when you are forced out by another player.

All I know is I spend a lot of my Sunday's watching a game where a catch isn't a catch and a hard hit is the devil.

 

Looked like he was forced out or at least it was a penalty for illegal contact. No call and touchdown waived off....

 

I just would have liked to have seen a better angle. If he was out it wasn't by much.

Cali steel - The day my wife tells me anything more than I know about football will be the day I will no longer be using oxygen. She'd rather watch the SB commercials than a 99 yard INT for a TD as time expires in the 1st half.

 

What was the actual penalty incurred? Was it just a loss of down?

WWW's post earlier suggested that the call was right (it wasn't a TD) but that the penalty wasn't - I confess I'm not up on this rule at all, though.

 

A better angle? I would of appreciated any angle. I hate when they do that and they also gloss right over what could of been a game changer.

 

The correct interpretation is:
It wasn't a catch, since the receiver went out of bounds and can't be the first player to touch the ball (touch or catch).

My take: It should have been a 5 yard penalty for illegal procedure, and repeat the down.


From NFL Rulebook:
ILLEGAL TOUCHING OF A FORWARD PASS
Article 8 Illegal Touching of a Forward Pass. It is a foul for illegal touching if a forward pass (legal or illegal), thrown from behind the line of scrimmage:
(a) is first touched intentionally or is caught by an ineligible offensive player; or
(b) first touches or is caught by an eligible receiver who has gone out of bounds, either of his own volition or by being legally forced out of bounds, and has re-established himself inbounds.
Penalty: Loss of five yards.

A.R. 8.15 Third-and-10 on B40. On a legal forward pass, eligible end A1 is blocked out of bounds on the B36. He returns to the field of play, catches pass, and scores.
Ruling: No score. The player became an ineligible receiver by going out of bounds. A’s ball third-and-15 on B45.

So, it should have been 3rd & G from CAR 11, after a 5 yard penalty and repeat down.

 

This issue to me resides in the portion of the rule that I have highlighted orange above. My question is: Was he forced out? And if he was would it have been considered " Legally" forced out?

 

I don't think he was forced out, more his foot stepped on the line as he turned. So he went out of bounds by his own volition.

But as you ask it, I'm now struggling to think of a time I've seen a call for illegally forcing out of bounds.

 

I don't remember anybody being called for forcing somebody out of bounds.
Either way, I understand it should have been a penalty... and 3 & G at the 11.

 

Either way, I was glad he caught it. The pass looked like it caught him way off guard and he handled it.

 

I don't have the video of the play, but is it possible that he hadn't re-established himself in bounds (hadn't touched both feet in bounds) before catching the ball? If that was the case, then it was the right call He would have been considered out of bounds when he caught the ball.

 

He's shown some terrific hands this year. I'm thrilled to death that he's starting to play up to his potential. I think that he and AB can be a special duo for years to come.

 

If you were pushed out, which he was and you get back in, its a catch. He was also pushed out 8 yards down the field. we got hosed

 

He was pushed out. Rule book from last year says

Article 6 Ineligible Receivers. All offensive players other than those identified in Article 5 above are ineligible to catch a
legal or illegal forward pass thrown from behind the line of scrimmage, including:
(a) Players who are not on either end of their line or at least one yard behind it when the ball is snapped.
(b) Offensive players wearing numbers 50-79, unless they have reported a change in their eligibility status to the Referee
and have assumed a position on their line or in their backfield as required by Article 5;
(c) Players who fail to notify the Referee of being eligible when required;
(d) An eligible receiver who has been out of bounds prior to or during a pass, even if he has re-established himself
inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands.
Exception: If an eligible receiver is forced out of bounds by a foul by a defender, including illegal contact, defensive holding,
or defensive pass interference, provided he attempts to return inbounds immediately, he will become eligible to legally
touch the pass (without prior touching by another eligible receiver or defender) as soon as he re-establishes himself
inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands. See Article 8, Note 3.
(e) A player who takes his stance behind center as a T-formation quarterback is not an eligible

But PI or ILL Contact should have been called

 

Didn't affect the outcome. For sure, Wheaton made a nice grab.
But, shouldn't our staff have a say on this?

 

I'm not convinced he did step out - and Carolina was offsides as hell. Don't know how they missed that.

 

Hahaha, she is pretty into it. First one up for the games with her Polamalu jersey on and telling me time to go, screaming and hollering at the tv and I snatched her out of an all Browns fans household and converted her to the good guys. Some of her high fives make my hands sting and she's a tiny person. 25 years of watching football with me and she knows her stuff.

 

Force Outs left the NFL a few years ago. There are no force outs anymore. I really think the rule should come back because it's pretty easy for a corner or safety to get a guy out of bounds. In the case of Wheaton they might have been able to rule it a force out if that rule was still in play. However, since they couldn't it's basically like they always make it out that the guy who stepped out is just a moron with no sideline awareness. It's not always his fault. Maybe that rule changed in 08 or so?

 

Force out for a catch Blunt is gone, different from force out and coming right back in then catch the ball while in bounds

BTW guys, I have a post in general NFL. Can you guys try to answer that one? Thanks

 

this applies to punts as well no?
can't be the one to down it or recover a fumble after stepping or being forced out of bounds