Larry Fitzgerald proposes a simple fix for the NFL's broken catch rule

There's not a whole lot in sports that we can all agree on. But hatred for the NFL's ridiculous "catch rule" is universal.

How many times have you been watching a professional football game, seen a wide receiver or tight end make a catch, celebrated the successful gain -- and had it all wiped away by an official declaring the pass incomplete?

Too many times, of course. Far, far too many times.

Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald feels your pain, and he has a ridiculously simple solution: Once a player catches a ball and tries to do something else, it's officially a catch (via MMQB):

To the NFL's credit, Fitzgerald's idea is more or less the spirit of the current rule. It's just that the league has made its definition of a "football-type maneuver" incredibly draconian. A player must catch the ball with two feet down then perform a choreographed number from "The Fiddler on the Roof" before reciting the Pledge of Allegiance backward -- and only then is it actually a catch.

Okay, maybe not. Here's how the NFL currently defines a catch, straight from the rule book:

Fitzgerald's suggestion would definitely simplify things -- and maybe make it a bit easier for the offense. 

Unfortunately for Fitzgerald -- and Dallas Cowboys WR Dez Bryant, who recently proposed his own fix to the rule -- it doesn't sound like the league is in much of a hurry to change things. The NFL's VP of officiating said in February that he doesn't foresee any drastic alterations to the rule.