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NFL sets new definition for controversial catch rule

The NFL’s rulemaking competition committee is poised to change the sport’s controversial catch rule by eliminating provisions related to slight movement of the football in a receiver’s hands and the going-to-the-ground requirement.

The modifications could be finalized Tuesday and presented to owners of the 32 NFL teams at next week’s annual meeting in Orlando, according to Troy Vincent, the league’s executive vice president of football operations.

“We worked backward,” Vincent said in a phone interview. “We looked at plays and said: Do you want that to be a catch? And then we applied that to the rule.