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NFL Catch Rule, Rewritten: League Aims to Simplify; Result Could Complicate

ORLANDO, Fla. — These annual NFL owners meetings might be hijacked by the national anthem debate. I mean, the Jets’ let-‘em-protest president Christopher Johnson versus the stand-at-attention-or-else Bob McNair of the Texans would be great political theater on, say, Jake Tapper’s CNN show. Or that could flame out by midday today. Then what?

My money’s on the definition of a football move.

On Sunday afternoon, inside a ballroom at the Ritz Carlton, the NFL’s eight-man Competition Committee milled about after briefing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on the rules proposal that the league hopes will clear up once and for all what a catch is.