Dumbest Football Play Ever?

[njmeadowlanders]

http://www.comcast.net/video/worst-play-ever/1282106622/Comcast/1282595735/

Go to the 47 second mark...I couldn't find it on Youtube.

I can't believe it...

[NEW.ERA]

Poor kid was to happy to notice where he was on the field but come on your playing High School football now.

[illwauk]

I sure hope Fox News thought it was worth making the rest of this kid's high school life a living hell. It's bad enough that he was gonna have to deal with what he was gonna get from his coaches, teammates and people that were at the game. But now everyone knows. It might have been a stupid play but he's still just a kid.

[Bleujayone]

It was a simple mistake made in the excitement of the moment. Sheesh people, in this case it really is just a game, let it go.

Somehow I don't recall Leon Lett getting the same amount of crap for doing even worse than this, and he was a professional player being paid millions of dollars to play his best, not some poor kid playing for fun. And you may also remember he had another big blooper in a Super Bowl no less, at least that one didn't cost his team the game as the first one mentioned did.

For those who need a refresher:

Super Bowl & Thanksgiving screw-ups

[ElwoodCuse]

This reminds me of the dude at the Big 12 basketball tournament a while back. Intercepted a floor-length inbounds pass, started celebrating, got called for traveling. Opposing team inbounds again, scores, win.

[oddball]

It was a simple mistake made in the excitement of the moment. Sheesh people, in this case it really is just a game, let it go.

Somehow I don't recall Leon Lett getting the same amount of crap for doing even worse than this, and he was a professional player being paid millions of dollars to play his best, not some poor kid playing for fun. And you may also remember he had another big blooper in a Super Bowl no less, at least that one didn't cost his team the game as the first one mentioned did.

For those who need a refresher:

Super Bowl & Thanksgiving screw-ups

Leon Lett has been ridiculed every time someone lines up for a kick and it gets blocked. Everytime I see someone line up for a critical game ending field goal, some announcer usually says, "And the coaches have told them not to touch the ball if it's tipped. Don't be a Leon Lett." Leon wasn't a bone-head once, he was a bone-head twice! This is in Leon Lett territory and any abuse the kid gets is well deserved. Act like you've won before. It's called control your emotions, know the game and know your responsibilies. Act like a professional and celebrate like an idiot in the locker room. Leave celebrating like an idiot to the professionals like Chad Johnson. *sarcasm for those who don't get it*

[BlueSky]

That's not even close to the worst or even dumbest play ever. I remember years ago an LSU QB (can't remember who) taking the snap with a few seconds left and throwing out of bounds to stop the clock...on 4th down. DOH! And in Plaxico Burress' rookie year with the Steelers, he caught a pass diving to the ground, got up untouched, and spiked the ball, which was promptly recovered by the defense. Hey Plax, this ain't college rules!

David Patten of the Saints did something similar last season or the year before, I think against Jacksonville. He was running and stumbled to the ground untouched after a big gain, jumped up and threw the ball down. Somehow, and I still don't get it, the refs ruled him down by contact even though he'd taken at least 3 or 4 normal steps (i.e. not going to the ground) since the last touch by a defender.

So yeah, it was dumb, but the narration said the kid 'nominated himself' so obviously he's not too torn up about it.

[BBTV]

It was a simple mistake made in the excitement of the moment. Sheesh people, in this case it really is just a game, let it go.

Somehow I don't recall Leon Lett getting the same amount of crap for doing even worse than this, and he was a professional player being paid millions of dollars to play his best, not some poor kid playing for fun. And you may also remember he had another big blooper in a Super Bowl no less, at least that one didn't cost his team the game as the first one mentioned did.

For those who need a refresher:

Super Bowl & Thanksgiving screw-ups

Not sure what you are talking about - Leon Lett was blasted relentlessly after that play. He's still brought up every time a stupid play happens.

This is a stupid play, but rather the kid learn from it now, instead of having it happen in a college game or pro game if he ever gets that far.

[infrared41]

It was a simple mistake made in the excitement of the moment. Sheesh people, in this case it really is just a game, let it go.

Somehow I don't recall Leon Lett getting the same amount of crap for doing even worse than this, and he was a professional player being paid millions of dollars to play his best, not some poor kid playing for fun. And you may also remember he had another big blooper in a Super Bowl no less, at least that one didn't cost his team the game as the first one mentioned did.

For those who need a refresher:

Super Bowl & Thanksgiving screw-ups

Not sure what you are talking about - Leon Lett was blasted relentlessly after that play. He's still brought up every time a stupid play happens.

This is a stupid play, but rather the kid learn from it now, instead of having it happen in a college game or pro game if he ever gets that far.

I blame the coaches on this one. High School football, especially at smaller schools, probably doesn't have a lot of 30-50 yard field goal attempts. There's never much of a need to worry about what to do when someone kicks a long one that falls short. A good coach is going to know that a.) the odds of the kid nailing that kick are at best 50-50 and b.) that he should tell his players to treat that ball like it's radioactive if the kick is short. I'd bet my last dollar that the players didn't know the rules. For that, the coaching staff takes the blame.

Luckily for the winning team one kid did know the rules and that made all the difference.

EDIT: Speaking of which, why did the coach even have players back in position to return that kick? The ball falls short, it's a missed FG, the opposing team takes possession, kneels down once, game over.

[gingerbreadmann]

It was a simple mistake made in the excitement of the moment. Sheesh people, in this case it really is just a game, let it go.

Somehow I don't recall Leon Lett getting the same amount of crap for doing even worse than this, and he was a professional player being paid millions of dollars to play his best, not some poor kid playing for fun. And you may also remember he had another big blooper in a Super Bowl no less, at least that one didn't cost his team the game as the first one mentioned did.

For those who need a refresher:

Super Bowl & Thanksgiving screw-ups

Not sure what you are talking about - Leon Lett was blasted relentlessly after that play.  He's still brought up every time a stupid play happens.

This is a stupid play, but rather the kid learn from it now, instead of having it happen in a college game or pro game if he ever gets that far.

I blame the coaches on this one. High School football, especially at smaller schools, probably doesn't have a lot of 30-50 yard field goal attempts. There's never much of a need to worry about what to do when someone kicks a long one that falls short. A good coach is going to know that a.) the odds of the kid nailing that kick are at best 50-50 and b.) that he should tell his players to treat that ball like it's radioactive if the kick is short. I'd bet my last dollar that the players didn't know the rules. For that, the coaching staff takes the blame.

Luckily for the winning team one kid did know the rules and that made all the difference.

EDIT: Speaking of which, why did the coach even have players back in position to return that kick? The ball falls short, it's a missed FG, the opposing team takes possession, kneels down once, game over.

When I saw this on the news a couple of days ago, I blasted the coaches for this for about 10 minutes to my family. Then I remembered that when seeing it for the first time, I thought it was going to be a fake FG of some sort (the news intro was "most amazing play"), and so, since the FG was so long and unlikely, they must have been playing safety in case of a fake.

[infrared41]

It was a simple mistake made in the excitement of the moment. Sheesh people, in this case it really is just a game, let it go.

Somehow I don't recall Leon Lett getting the same amount of crap for doing even worse than this, and he was a professional player being paid millions of dollars to play his best, not some poor kid playing for fun. And you may also remember he had another big blooper in a Super Bowl no less, at least that one didn't cost his team the game as the first one mentioned did.

For those who need a refresher:

Super Bowl & Thanksgiving screw-ups

Not sure what you are talking about - Leon Lett was blasted relentlessly after that play.  He's still brought up every time a stupid play happens.

This is a stupid play, but rather the kid learn from it now, instead of having it happen in a college game or pro game if he ever gets that far.

I blame the coaches on this one. High School football, especially at smaller schools, probably doesn't have a lot of 30-50 yard field goal attempts. There's never much of a need to worry about what to do when someone kicks a long one that falls short. A good coach is going to know that a.) the odds of the kid nailing that kick are at best 50-50 and b.) that he should tell his players to treat that ball like it's radioactive if the kick is short. I'd bet my last dollar that the players didn't know the rules. For that, the coaching staff takes the blame.

Luckily for the winning team one kid did know the rules and that made all the difference.

EDIT: Speaking of which, why did the coach even have players back in position to return that kick? The ball falls short, it's a missed FG, the opposing team takes possession, kneels down once, game over.

When I saw this on the news a couple of days ago, I blasted the coaches for this for about 10 minutes to my family. Then I remembered that when seeing it for the first time, I thought it was going to be a fake FG of some sort (the news intro was "most amazing play"), and so, since the FG was so long and unlikely, they must have been playing safety in case of a fake.

In which case the coach just has to say "if they kick it and it's short treat the ball like it's radioactive." There's no excuse for it. It was bad coaching. I'd even say it was possible that one kid just lost his head but when you watch the play you see the other kid running around and jumping up and down with the kid who spiked the ball. Neither one of them knew what they had just done. It was bad coaching period.

[Jigga]

You can't possibly be blaming coaches, 'Red! They're perfect. I thought you knew that.

[WJMorris3]

In that situation, no, I wouldn't want my guys to return the ball. Though I can see the argument - in high school, a short field goal that enters the end zone comes back to the 20. If it doesn't enter the end zone, then it's downed wherever it ends up. (Hell, this is why I wish my team would never punt.)

[infrared41]

You can't possibly be blaming coaches, 'Red! They're perfect. I thought you knew that.

Sorry Jigga, I lost myself for a second there. Of course the coaches can't be to blame here. What was I thinking? That kid was just a moron who didn't listen to the geniuses on the sideline. Thanks for reeling me in dude.

[Bleujayone]

It was a simple mistake made in the excitement of the moment. Sheesh people, in this case it really is just a game, let it go.

Somehow I don't recall Leon Lett getting the same amount of crap for doing even worse than this, and he was a professional player being paid millions of dollars to play his best, not some poor kid playing for fun. And you may also remember he had another big blooper in a Super Bowl no less, at least that one didn't cost his team the game as the first one mentioned did.

For those who need a refresher:

Super Bowl & Thanksgiving screw-ups

Not sure what you are talking about - Leon Lett was blasted relentlessly after that play. He's still brought up every time a stupid play happens.

This is a stupid play, but rather the kid learn from it now, instead of having it happen in a college game or pro game if he ever gets that far.

You cannot tell me there's no difference between a professional football player who's job it is to know football inside and out and that of a kid playing football for fun in high school.

And all ribbing towards Leon Lett aside, he is still thought by many as a great football player. He was a cornerstone to the Dallas Cowboys defense. He helped his team three championships, went to two Pro-Bowls and a got few million dollars under his belt. So he's got plenty of that to comfort him. His mistakes will be looked at as a funny sidenote to be sure, but little else. Nobody shows these mistakes and then gives the tone that he's a loser.

This kid doesn't have anything else, and people are going after him like he's committed a cardinal sin. I still don't understand the public's general enjoyment (both in here and elsewhere) of making this kid feel like crap in general. I'm sure all of us here have made mistakes (and some for more critical than a blooper in a football game). I'm sure if any of us had the misfortune of having it recorded and posted all over the web and cable we wouldn't appreciate it- so why is it acceptable to do this to this kid? And by the way, this is hardly the dumbest football play in high school football, college or professional. If you doubt that take a look at the literal libraries of sport bloopers and realize that the true number of mistakes ever committed are infinite. Contrary to popular belief, mistakes like this are made by people on all levels all the time. That's just the nature of sports.

The point is it's a bloody game. Win or lose, the world won't really change all that much. I just don't understand why media outlets and thereafter people in general think that this mistake was worthy of all this ridicule. He made a mistake, big deal. I have no doubt even without this publicity he'd have felt horrible for some time to come and find a way to overcome it and move on. But let's be honest, nobody died, the world didn't end- a football game was lost. $#!+ happens. Making him a nationwide laughingstock because of a mistake made by a kid playing a game- I just don't see the "service" that some of you seem to believe is being done.

[DallasSports]

"He's going the wrong way! He's running the wrong way! It's a safety!"

Props to Jim Marshall.

[oddball]

If the kid learns from this great, but it's still a stupid play and stop all this crap about leave him alone. When you play sports and put yourself out there in the public eye, you put yourself in a position to be criticized. If you are the kid can't handle it, then I suggest you just lock yourself in your room and start sucking your thumb. If this kid has any guts, he's going to say to his teammates, "I f'd up and I'll make it up to you guys by being a guy who won't f up again!" If he stands up for his mistake, great; but it's still one of the most bone-headed plays I've seen in a while. And yes, the coaches f'd up too! Let's not totally forget, as has been pointed out before, that the coaches are to blame too. But he deserves whatever ridicule he gets and so do the coaches. When you do something stupid to lose a game, you're going to have to do something spectacular to overcome that. Don't believe me? Ask Bill Buckner.

[BBTV]

It was a simple mistake made in the excitement of the moment. Sheesh people, in this case it really is just a game, let it go.

Somehow I don't recall Leon Lett getting the same amount of crap for doing even worse than this, and he was a professional player being paid millions of dollars to play his best, not some poor kid playing for fun. And you may also remember he had another big blooper in a Super Bowl no less, at least that one didn't cost his team the game as the first one mentioned did.

For those who need a refresher:

Super Bowl & Thanksgiving screw-ups

Not sure what you are talking about - Leon Lett was blasted relentlessly after that play. He's still brought up every time a stupid play happens.

This is a stupid play, but rather the kid learn from it now, instead of having it happen in a college game or pro game if he ever gets that far.

You cannot tell me there's no difference between a professional football player who's job it is to know football inside and out and that of a kid playing football for fun in high school.

Uhhhh... I never did.

And all ribbing towards Leon Lett aside, he is still thought by many as a great football player. He was a cornerstone to the Dallas Cowboys defense. He helped his team three championships, went to two Pro-Bowls and a got few million dollars under his belt. So he's got plenty of that to comfort him. His mistakes will be looked at as a funny sidenote to be sure, but little else. Nobody shows these mistakes and then gives the tone that he's a loser.

No, he's thought of as the idiot that went after that blocked kick, and the a-hole who tried to showboat in the SB and got the ball knocked out of his hands.

This kid doesn't have anything else, and people are going after him like he's committed a cardinal sin. I still don't understand the public's general enjoyment (both in here and elsewhere) of making this kid feel like crap in general. I'm sure all of us here have made mistakes (and some for more critical than a blooper in a football game). I'm sure if any of us had the misfortune of having it recorded and posted all over the web and cable we wouldn't appreciate it- so why is it acceptable to do this to this kid? And by the way, this is hardly the dumbest football play in high school football, college or professional. If you doubt that take a look at the literal libraries of sport bloopers and realize that the true number of mistakes ever committed are infinite. Contrary to popular belief, mistakes like this are made by people on all levels all the time. That's just the nature of sports.

The point is it's a bloody game. Win or lose, the world won't really change all that much. I just don't understand why media outlets and thereafter people in general think that this mistake was worthy of all this ridicule. He made a mistake, big deal. I have no doubt even without this publicity he'd have felt horrible for some time to come and find a way to overcome it and move on. But let's be honest, nobody died, the world didn't end- a football game was lost. $#!+ happens. Making him a nationwide laughingstock because of a mistake made by a kid playing a game- I just don't see the "service" that some of you seem to believe is being done.

Who exactly are you arguing with?

[habsfan1]

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