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NFL passes revised catch rule

The 49ers proposal to limited 10 a.m. PT games did not pass.

The NFL owners voted on a host of new rules and proposals, all of which you can read below. The most high profile change is the revised catch rule. The revision passed by a unanimous 32-0 vote, and clearly will end all complaints about what is or is not a catch.

Yes, that was sarcasm. In detailing the rule, we heard about how Dez Bryant’s incompletion and many other notable non-catches would in fact be catches. You can read the full rundown of how the rule would change in the original proposal. The new rule requires two feet or a body part other than the hand being down, and an act common to the game is completed before the ball comes loose. The going-to-the-ground language was removed. Hopefully this works out, but we’ll see when it gets put in play this fall.

The two other notable rule changes are to make permanent a kickoff touchback starting at the 25-yard line, and give the NFL central office the ability to instruct a referee to eject a player for a given flagrant non-football act.

One rule that did not happen was changing pass interference to a 15-yard penalty outside of intentional and egregious acts. It is currently a spot of the fall play. Giving officials a subjective decision on what is intentional and egregious is not ideal, but I do think there needs to be a change away from purely spot of the foul.

There was a notable bylaw passed as well. Teams are now allowed to trade a player that is on their injured reserve list. The San Francisco 49ers and two other west coast teams had proposed a rule reducing the amount of 10 a.m. PT road games that west coast teams would need to play, but that did not pass.

Here’s the full list of rule changes.