There is a certain poetry to the Saints getting screwed over by a terrible rule/call in week one to getting the correct call also going against them in week 3. Not for Saints fans, of course, but for the rest of us. Saints fans demanded justice after week one. They craved proper officiating. They got it, and Tyler Shough died for the cause.
I want to take the rest of this post to put forth a bold proposal: If the ball is still in the QB’s hands when contacted, it’s a fumble. None of this “arm going forward” debate. If the ball is still within the grip of the QB when contacted and lost, that’s it. Fumble. No more “intent”. Just basic fact. If the ball left the QB’s grip without direct intent of release, that shit is a fumble.
I hate the arm going forward thing. Throwing motions are not divided into neat sections where you can directly point to the arm coming forward. The entire throwing motion is one fluid process with a number of overlapping phases. The elbow comes forward while the forearm is still moving up or back, etc etc. The replays tend to put the dividing line as the elbow starting to go forward but it’s a grey area up to interpretation and I’ve seen what I thought were clear fumbles called as passes and clear forward motion called fumbles. When the arm is at the midpoint of the windup, the call is just vibes. That’s why I want this to change.
Will this result in more fumbles? Yes. I don’t care. I’m tired of the ambiguity. Make it clear. If that ball leaves the QBs hands for any other reason than the QB let it go, FUMBLE.
