The Play
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The Play refers to a last-second kickoff return during a college football game between the University of California, Berkeley ("California" or "Cal") Golden Bears and the Stanford University Cardinal on November 20, 1982. Given the circumstances and rivalry, the wild game that preceded it, the bizarre and heavily-disputed way in which the Play unfolded, and its lingering aftermath on players and fans, it is often recognized as the most memorable play in college football and among the most memorable in all of American sport.
After Stanford took a 20-19 lead on a field goal with four seconds left, the Golden Bears used five lateral passes on the ensuing kickoff return to score the winning touchdown and turn defeat into a 25-20 victory. Although members of the Stanford Band came onto the field midway through the play believing that the game was already over, the touchdown stood. However, some believe that the score should not have counted because one of the Cal ball carriers may have been tackled before he lateraled the ball. Another dispute is whether one of the laterals should have been ruled as an illegal forward pass.
(Notice that no football period can end until the ball is dead, therefore, even with the game clock running out of time while the play was in progress, the play continued to its conclusion.)
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[edit] Background
This was the teams' 85th "Big Game", and it was played on Cal's home field, California Memorial Stadium. While Cal was virtually out of contention for a postseason bowl game, the implications of this game were far more important to Stanford, led by quarterback John Elway, a future National Football League star who is now enshrined in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame. The Cardinal football squad was in the midst of an outstanding season and needed a win to be invited to a bowl game. In fact, representatives of the Hall of Fame Classic committee were in attendance, ostensibly to extend Stanford an invitation should the Cardinal win.
Also at stake was possession of The Stanford Axe, an axe head trophy that is awarded to the winner of their annual matchup. Its origins date back to 1899, but in 1933 the two schools agreed that the winner of the Big Game would take possession of the axe. The plaque upon which the axe is mounted carries the scores of previous Big Games.
[edit] The situation
With Cal leading 19-17 late in the fourth quarter, quarterback John Elway and the Cardinal overcame a 4th-and-17 on their own 13-yard line with a 29-yard completion, then managed to get the ball within field goal range for placekicker Mark Harmon. Elway called a timeout with eight seconds left on the clock. Had Elway realized there was plenty of time to call a timeout and let the clock run down to about 3 seconds, a kickoff following a successful field goal may have never been necessary (the field-goal play would have used up the remaining time); regardless, Harmon's 35-yard kick was good, putting Stanford ahead 20-19. However, the team's celebrating drew a 15-yard penalty, which was enforced on the ensuing kickoff. At that point, Cal announcer Joe Starkey praised Stanford and Elway for their efforts, and added, "Only a miracle can save the Bears now!"
With four seconds left, Stanford special teams coach Fred von Appen called for a squib kick on the kickoff. In the meantime, Cal coach Joe Kapp told his players to keep the ball in play, and to lateral the ball Rugby style if they were in danger of being tackled. What happened next, became arguably the most debated and most dissected single play in college football history.
[edit] The Play
- Harmon squibbed the kick and Cal's Kevin Moen received the ball at the Cal 43 near the left hash mark. After some ineffective scrambling, Moen lateraled the ball leftward from the Cal 48 to Richard Rodgers, who received the ball near the sideline at the Cal 47.
- Rodgers was very quickly surrounded, gaining only one yard before looking behind him for Dwight Garner, who caught the ball at the Cal 44.
- Garner ran straight ahead for five yards to the Cal 49, but was swallowed up by five Stanford players. While Garner was being tackled, however, he managed to pitch the ball back to Rodgers, who was ready for it at the Cal 48.
- Rodgers dodged another Stanford player and took the ball to his right, toward the middle of the field, where at least four other Cal players were ready for the next pitch. At the Stanford 46, Rodgers pitched the ball to Mariet Ford, who caught it in stride.
- Ford avoided a Stanford player and ran at a blazing speed up the field while moving to the right of the right hash mark. At the Stanford 26, three Stanford players smothered Ford, but he threw a blind lateral over his right shoulder.
- Moen caught it at the Stanford 26 and charged toward the end zone. One Stanford player missed him, and another could not catch him from behind. Moen ran through the scattering Stanford Band members (who were pouring onto the field because they had thought that the game was over) for the touchdown, which he famously completed by running into unaware trombone player Gary Tyrrell.
The Cal players celebrated wildly — but the officials had not signaled the touchdown. Stanford coach Paul Wiggin and his players argued to the officials that Dwight Garner's knee had been down, rendering what had happened during the rest of the play moot. But after a few minutes, the touchdown was signaled by referee Charles Moffett and a penalty was called on Stanford for having too many players on the field, which was presumably declined by Cal.
[edit] Controversy
Many Stanford officials, players, and fans have objected to the ruling. Primarily it was claimed that Dwight Garner's knee was down before he lateraled to Richard Rodgers. Both Garner and Rodgers claim that the knee was not down. Kevin Lamar, a Stanford player who tackled Garner, however, maintains that Garner was down before the lateral left his hands. Another objection is that the last lateral from Ford to Moen was, in fact, an illegal forward pass. As stated before, it is difficult to evaluate these objections from the footage. Loyal Stanford fans insist the footage proves Garner was down; an unbiased assessment of the footage can only honestly be said to prove that the footage is inconclusive. During the game, however, the referees decided that all five laterals were legal; according to referee Charles Moffett, the officials actually had the option of awarding a touchdown to Cal due to interference from the band, and Moffett later recalled that he was shocked and "kind of relieved" (full quote) to have learned that Moen had scored, sparing Moffett the decision.
Given their objections, some Stanford fans refer to The Play as the "Screw of '82". Whenever Stanford holds the Stanford Axe, the plaque is altered in protest so that the outcome reads as a 20-19 Stanford victory. When the Axe is returned to Cal's possession, the plaque is changed back to the official score: California 25, Stanford 20.
[edit] Aftermath
Several days after the game, Stanford students published a parody version of Cal's student newspaper, The Daily Californian, with the lead story claiming that the NCAA had declared Cal's last play to be dead in a ruling three days after the game. According to that bogus paper, the official score would be recorded in the NCAA record books as Stanford 20, California 19. The Stanford students went so far as to distribute the parody on the Cal campus.
For many years, John Elway was bitter, on both a personal level and on behalf of his team, about the touchdown being allowed: "This was an insult to college football... They (the officials) ruined my last game as a college football player." (full quote) John Elway never played in a college bowl game, and The Play cost Stanford an invitation to the Hall of Fame Bowl. Furthermore, The Play arguably cost Elway the 1982 Heisman Trophy Award, which was eventually awarded to University of Georgia running back Herschel Walker. Elway would nevertheless enjoy a very successful NFL career, winning two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos, being enshrined in both the Pro Football and College Football Halls of Fame, where he came to terms with The Play, stating that "each year it gets a little funnier".[1]
The Play's legitimacy remains controversial, not only among Stanford and Cal fans, but among the broader college football community as well. However, Sports Illustrated, as part of a 12-page article that appeared the following Fall ("The Anatomy of a Miracle," September 1, 1983), found no mistakes in officiating. "The best Stanford could do was to persuade conference Executive Director Wiles Hallock to issue a public statement acknowledging that Cal had only four men in the restraining area on the fatal kickoff. Hallock added, however, that it was a violation that required no penalty. And, he said later, "I'm pleased that in all the confusion the officials never stopped officiating." As for the play? "Well, it was just one of those marvelous things that happen in football.""
The participants in The Play, with the exceptions of Elway and announcer Joe Starkey, faded into relative obscurity in the years since.
The most infamous participant in The Play is Mariet Ford. Ford, who briefly played wide receiver for the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League, was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and 3-year-old son in 1997. He is serving a 45 years-to-life sentence.
Kevin Moen had a short-lived professional career and is now a real estate broker in the Los Angeles area. Gary Tyrrell, the Stanford trombonist who was run over by Moen, is an investment broker and amateur brewer; his smashed trombone is now displayed in the College Football Hall of Fame. Dwight Garner, who later spent two years with the Washington Redskins and retired, is now a risk manager with The Sports Authority chain of sporting goods stores. Richard Rodgers is an assistant coach at New Mexico State.
[edit] Inspiration
The Play also provided the inspiration behind an attempt by the Michigan Wolverines to score in the last seconds of its loss to Nebraska in the 2005 Alamo Bowl. This ill-fated play had much the same result as the original: massive confusion and both teams were on the field at the end of the play, but unlike the Golden Bears, Michigan was stopped by one of the last Nebraska defenders and was unable to score and win the game (Nebraska won, 32-28). It also had memories of the Bluegrass Miracle of 2002, where Kentucky players dunked the coach with Gatorade before the game was over but LSU won.
A similar play also occurred at the conclusion of a December 21, 2003 NFL game between the New Orleans Saints and the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Saints completed a pass and several subsequent laterals as time expired to travel 75 yards to the endzone. However, Saints kicker John Carney missed the extra point which would have sent the game into overtime, and the Saints lost the game, 20-19. The play won an ESPY award for the best play of that season and it has since been dubbed the "River City Relay".
Another finale inspired by The Play occurred on October 1, 2006, in an NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets. This play came off a pass from Jets quarterback Chad Pennington and featured 4 laterals and 2 fumbles recovered by the Jets before a final fumble surrendered the ball to the Colts after time had expired; the Colts won, 31-28.
The Play is ranked number 16 on the list of The 100 Most Unexpected TV Moments as compiled by TV Guide and TV Land in December 2005.
It was ranked number 3 on The 50 Most Outrageous Moments in Sports that aired on The Best Damn Sports Show Period.
[edit] The play-by-play call
Cal announcer Joe Starkey of KGO-AM 810 radio called the game. The following is a transcript of his famous call:
| All right, here we go with the kickoff. Harmon will probably try to squib it and he does. The ball comes loose and the Bears have to get out of bounds. Rodgers is along the sideline, another one (lateral)... they're still in deep trouble at midfield, they tried to do a couple of (laterals)... the ball is still loose as they get it to Rodgers! They get it back now to the 30, they're down to the 20... Oh, the band is out on the field! He's gonna go into the end zone! He's gone into the end zone!
Will it count? The Bears have scored, but the bands are out on the field! There were flags all over the place. Wait and see what happens — we don't know who won the game. There are flags on the field. We have to see whether or not the flags are against Stanford or Cal. The Bears may have made some illegal laterals. It could be that it won't count. The Bears, believe it or not, took it all the way into the end zone. If the penalty is against Stanford, California would win the game. If it is not, the game is over and Stanford has won. We've heard no decision yet. Everybody is milling around on the field — And the Bears!! The Bears have won! The Bears have won! Oh, my God! The most amazing, sensational, dramatic, heart-rending...exciting, thrilling finish in the history of college football! California has won the Big Game over Stanford! Oh, excuse me for my voice, but I have never, never seen anything like it in the history of I have ever seen any game in my life! The Bears have won it! There will be no extra point! Hold it right here, don't anybody go away. After just about everybody on the kickoff team handled the ball, Kevin Moen finally did it. And he ran through 15 members of the Stanford band, nobody tackled him. The fool! Len Shapiro, our statistician, has just held up a card and it says the truth! The Stanford band just cost their team that ball game! The Stanford band ran out on the field, it left all the defenders in an impossible situation to get to the Bears carrying the ball. They couldn't tackle 'em. The band, in effect, served as extra blockers, the official had no choice but to let the play go as was. The Bears have scored on the kickoff, brought it all the way back. At least five men handled the ball on one lateral after another. I thought Rodgers was dead at one point. He got rid of the ball [cannon fire]. I believe it was Kevin Moen that Jan said that scored the winning touchdown as the kickoff came from the 25-yard line. This place is like it has never been, ever. The Stanford team can't believe it. |
[edit] Referee Charles Moffett on the officials' ruling
It is difficult to conclusively determine anything from the footage. The game officials, however, ruled that all five of the laterals were legal; the flags, according to referee Charles Moffett, were, in fact, on Stanford for having too many men on the field. Moreover, even if Moen had not scored, the officials, per NCAA rules, could have awarded Cal with the touchdown on the basis of the band's interference.
Moffett recalls "The Play": "I called all the officials together and there were some pale faces. The penalty flags were against Stanford for coming onto the field. I say, 'did anybody blow a whistle?' They say 'no'. I say, 'were all the laterals legal'? 'Yes'. Then the line judge, Gordon Riese, says to me, 'Charlie, the guy scored on that.' And I said, 'What?' I had no idea the guy had scored. Actually when I heard that I was kind of relieved. I thought we really would have had a problem if they hadn't scored, because, by the rules, we could have awarded a touchdown (to Cal) for (Stanford) players coming onto the field. I didn't want to have to make that call."
"I wasn't nervous at all when I stepped out to make the call; maybe I was too dumb. Gee, it seems like it was yesterday. Anyway, when I stepped out of the crowd, there was dead silence in the place. Then when I raised my arms, I thought I had started World War III. It was like an atomic bomb had gone off." [2]
[edit] External links
- Video of The Play on the UC Berkeley website
- Video of The Play on YouTube (for all operating systems)
- Video on YouTube detailing that all five laterals were legal in The Play
- The Play Lives On
- Transcript of Joe Starkey's call of The Play
- Partial "where are they now" article
- Lo-Def: Cal vs Stanford at YouTube, with the Play re-enacted using Electric football
- Cal Athletics website
- Stanford Athletics website
- Ten Best Damn unforgettable sports moments from FOX Sports
| University of California, Berkeley | |
| Athletics & traditions |
Golden Bears • Big Game • California Memorial Stadium • Haas Pavilion • Oski • Stanford Axe • The Play |
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Athletics |
Stanford Cardinal • The Stanford Axe • Big Game • The Play • Stanford Stadium • Maples Pavilion • Sunken Diamond • NACDA Director's Cup • |
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