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In American college football, The Play is often remembered as the most exciting moment in college football history. It refers to a controversial last-second kickoff return during a November 20, 1982 game between the University of California, Berkeley ("California" or "Cal") Golden Bears and the Cardinal of Stanford University. The Golden Bears used five lateral passes on the return with no time left to score the winning touchdown and defeat Stanford, 25-20.

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 some of the laterals should have been ruled as illegal forward passes. Another dispute is whether Cal ball carriers were tackled before they threw those passes.

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 Bowl (now the Outback Bowl) game 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 the axe is mounted on carries the scores of previous Big Games.

The situation

With Cal leading 19-17 late in the fourth quarter, 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. 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 stated, "Only a miracle can save the Bears as Stanford files out on the field," and praised Stanford and Elway for their efforts.

With four seconds left, Stanford coach Paul Wiggin played the percentages and 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, arguably, became the most debated and most dissected single play in college football history.

The Play

  • Cal's Kevin Moen received the ball at the Cal 45 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 rightward 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.

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. 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.

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. The Stanford students went so far as to distribute the parody on the Cal campus. According to the bogus paper, the official score stands in the NCAA records as Stanford 20, California 19 despite the NCAA's official record book listing the final score as a 25-20 win for Cal. The Stanford 2005 Football media guide lists the game as a loss at 20-25.

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, though Elway would neverthless earn a successful NFL career and enshrinement in both the Pro Football and College Football Hall of Fame.

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 famous, or 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 wife, his 3-year-old son, and unborn baby 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.

The Play also provided the insight 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.

The play-by-play call

Cal announcer Joe Starkey of KGO-AM 810 radio called the game. Here is the transcript of his famous, emotional call:

All right, here we go with the kickoff. Harmon'll probably try to squib it and he does. Ball comes loose and the Bears have to get out of bounds. Rodgers along the sideline, another one... they're still in deep trouble at midfield, they tried to do a couple of... 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... 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. Stanford can't believe it.

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."

External links

Cal Bears football | Stanford Cardinal football | Notable college football games | 1982 in sports | American football plays

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "The Play".

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