Here is the link to the video replay from TSN. Best view is at the 2:00 mark. If you can’t open the link here then go to TSN and look for the “Must See video” of the catch. His right hand and left arm are under the ball to my eye and it never hits the turf. But if I can’t convince you of that point which seems the least contentious of the whole play (which seems to be pretty clear unless you are looking for a reason to blame the refs), then there is no point in arguing the “surviving contact” portion of the play or if the top of the ball touches when Banks squeezes it between his legs. If the play is dead the moment he is down by contact, it should be an INT. If “surviving contact” is allowed to be factored in to the play, then it is properly upheld as a TD. I have not gone to referee school so I can’t speak to the nuance of the rule.
In the end, I agree that a referee on the booth to explain the rules would be great, but that will hardly settle the issue. Trying to convince some fans that the refs aren’t all biased against their team and that the commentators are all rooting for the opponent of your team every time is like trying to convince the tide to stop from coming in to shore, so an explanation from on high will not convince some that it is still the wrong decision. But refs are human and for every contested TD catch there will be a contested 3rd down spot of the ball that goes for your team, but which you will explain away because it serves your interest as a fan. So we’ll all have to agree to disagree on this call, like so many others.
As for the commentators rooting for Toronto, they are in the business of selling a story, selling excitement, so they will cheer on an underdog or a comeback, not because they hate your team but because they want to keep the audience engaged and invested until the clock hits zero. Again probably not a popular take for many who have expressed their consistent disdain for the TSN broadcast. But I’m pretty confident Rod Smith and Duane Ford don’t care who wins or loses, nor do the refs unless they are betting on the outcome (and I don’t think an Argo-Bomber game is seeing such action as to make it worth the effort). But fans will fan, so to each their own. And I can only speak for myself, but I suppose I have reached the age where I realize that yelling at the TV is never going to change the call, whether that makes me less of a fan or just closer to a Zen state of enlightenment is for others to decide. Namaste.
https://www.tsn.ca/Must-See/video/must-see-banks-incredible-52-yard-td-grab~2477796