This Handy ‘Is It A Catch?’ Flowchart For The NFL Will End Debates Once And For All (No, It Won’t)

Is It A Catch Flowchart NFL

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During week one of the 2010 NFL season, the Detroit Lions were playing the Chicago Bears when Matthew Stafford hit Calvin Johnson for what appeared to be, at least for anyone with working eyeballs, a game-winning touchdown catch. It wasn’t.

In the first quarter of a Detroit Lions win over the Minnesota Vikings in 2013, Stafford again connected with Johnson for what appeared to, well, everyone, to be a touchdown catch. It wasn’t.

Thus, plays like this were and will forever be known as falling victim to the “Calvin Johnson Rule.”

In the years that followed, numerous other NFL players were bitten by this rule, much to the dismay of them and, again, anyone with working eyeballs.

There are far too many instances in which this has happened to list them all, so I will just mention two of the most notable.

(1) Dez Bryant’s devastating non-catch versus the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs in 2014.

dez bryant catch rule

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(2) And most recently, Jesse James’ game-winning non-catch versus the Patriots this past Monday night.

The rule is ridiculous and we all know it. But in an effort to help out, an enterprising person on Reddit put together this handy, dandy “Is it a catch or not a catch in the NFL? flowchart.

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It even received a stamp of approval from NFL Network’s Rich Eisen.

I have no doubt now that with this flowchart explains the controversial NFL catch rule so well that it will absolutely, 100%… still not help.

It was very nice of him to try though.

We know, Dez. We know.

Douglas Charles headshot avatar BroBible
Before settling down at BroBible, Douglas Charles, a graduate of the University of Iowa (Go Hawks), owned and operated a wide assortment of websites. He is also one of the few White Sox fans out there and thinks Michael Jordan is, hands down, the GOAT.