7 Weirdest Moments in NFL History
The NFL is a league driven by great athleticism, clever gameplay, and passionate audiences. However, besides touchdowns, hard passes, tackles, and victories, the league has had its fair share of inexplicable moments. Such moments had no rational or logical reasons that could be associated with them—almost as if they should have been impossible.
In fact, one can only imagine what went through the minds of punters who had placed wagers on such football matches. It’s even more remarkable, considering some of these weird moments occurred in the last few seconds before the game ended. For some, it was a black day where they lost huge sums, but for others, it was a chance to explore the most bizarre odds at iGamingNuts.
From weird plays to outlandish episodes, here are seven bizarre moments that have etched themselves into NFL history.
This is one of the most remarkable but rather strange moments in the history of football. Here’s the context for readers: It is 1972, and the event is a playoff between the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers. The latter is behind, with only 30 seconds until the game ends. Then, from nowhere, Steelers Terry Bradshaw makes a pass to John Fuqua, the team’s running back.
The ball deflects off the helmet of Raiders’ Jack Tatum, who is trying to intercept the pass, and heads to the ground. But right before it hits the ground, Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers retrieves the ball. He then makes a game-winning run in the last moments to secure his team’s first Super Bowl victory.
The debate on this game was whether the ball had touched the ground or an offensive player before Harris caught it. Boy, it’s been over five decades already, but this jaw-dropping moment is still fresh in fans’ minds as their favorite play of all time—at least, that’s what the NFL website says.
2. Leon Lett’s Two Bizarre Blunders
Lett was a skilled athlete who played in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys as a defensive lineman. However, Lett is infamous for two mistakes, one of which was made in Super Bowl XXVII.
In the Super Bowl match, Lett had only recovered a fumble, and it was easily a walk-through to scoring a touchdown before he prematurely started celebrating. Unfortunately, Lett failed to realize Buffalo Bills player Don Beebe was running behind him. Don tackled him and knocked the ball out of Lett’s hands before he could cross the goal line. This sent the ball through the end zone and eliminated his touchdown, with the refereecalling a touchback.
That same year, Lett committed another blunder, which was more costly as it resulted in the Cowboys’ defeat. He had tried to recover a blocked field goal in the snow, but he tripped and knocked the ball forward. This allowed the Dolphins to retrieve the ball in the end zone and kick the game-winning field goal.
One of the stranger plays in NFL history that doubles as a most awkward moment is the butt fumble. This bizarre incident occurred during the Thanksgiving Day match in 2012 between the New York Jets and New England Patriots. Before thousands of live spectators and millions of television viewers, the Jets QB, Mark Sanchez, made a decision that would result in a nightmare.
He charged blindly and ran into the rear of his own team’s lineman, Brandon Moore. The player then tripped and fumbled the ball, starting a domino effect of mis-execution. This initial fumble prompted three more, and in 52 seconds, the Patriots scored three touchdowns.
This is amongst the most discussed incidents in football history, and it happened at the end of the AFC Wild Card playoff. The Tennessee Titans were playing the Buffalo Bills, and they were behind. Checking the time, they had only a few seconds left on the clock. The ensuing kickoff return saw Titans’ Frank Wycheck play a lateral pass to Kevin Dyson, who ran 75 yards to complete the touchdown that was the winning moment.
However, controversies began when it seemed like Wycheck made a forward pass instead of a lateral pass. Fortunately for the Titans, the play stood and propelled them to victory.
Strange incidents in football seem to occur at the end of matches, and here is one more instance to demonstrate this. It was perhaps one of the most sensational catches in NFL history, taking place at Super Bowl XLII. The New York Giants were playing against the New England Patriots when Eli Manning tossed the ball downfield towards the end of the game.
At the receiving end of the pass was Giants’ David Tyree, who made a leaping catch but did not particularly hold the ball. However, he managed to pin it against his helmet as he fell, keeping the drive alive. Tyree then scored a winning touchdown to end the Patriots’ perfect season. While it’s been years since it happened, this helmet catch defied the odds and cemented its place in football lore.
Unlike others on the list, this moment wasn’t a game-winning play but an outstanding defense. During the closing seconds of Super Bowl XXXIV, Teenage Titans and St. Louis Rams were battling over who would go home with their first Super Bowl win. Just as it seemed like Titans Kevin Dyson was about to hit the home run, Rams linebacker, Mike Jones, dashed at Dyson and tackled him to the ground. The crazy part was that Dyson was only a yard short of the goal line, making the defeat even more painful.
When you flip a coin, you expect it to make at least one rotation in the air before hitting the ground. This was not so for the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers matchup.
The referee, Clete Blakeman, had made a coin toss, but the coin simply made its way to the ground without flipping. Thinking it was a foul, the Packers insisted on another toss, which had the same outcome. Since the Cardinals won both coin flips, they were chosen to receive, after which, they made a couple of plays and won the match to advance to the conference championship.
These are but a few examples of the numerous weird and unusual moments in football history. This implies that the audience has a never-ending source of entertainment from this sports event. It’s thus only expected that more bizarre events will happen as the play unfolds.
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