WEBVTT - I Love the 80s: The Snowplow Game 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:20.560 Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio. Hello, 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:24.120 and welcome inside Special Teams, the podcast with me, Jason 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:26.639 Smith and Mike Harmon, as we take a look back 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:30.240 every week at big years in sports and big teams, 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.520 the special Teams and what they were able to accomplish 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:36.600 or not accomplish. We're taking you all the way back 0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:40.800 to December twelve two, where the Patriots played hosts of 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.600 the Miami Dolphins in a game that would affectionately be 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.720 known at least the Patriots fans. To everybody else that's hey, 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:50.400 the first time the Patriots started that would be known 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:54.680 as the Snowplow Game. The snow Plow Game. Number one 0:00:54.760 --> 0:01:03.680 song on December twel eater. Oh she's a man, that's 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:07.800 just frightening. But the field and kick a field goal? 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:12.240 Oh here he comes. Yeah, we'll get into the specifics 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:15.160 of that one as we roll. But yeah, this game, 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:19.880 going back and watching video clips, uh and and highly entertaining. 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:21.520 I mean, if you look at the box score, it's 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:28.280 an absolute abomination. But going back to two you mentioned it, 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:31.039 it's it's one that if as you do any sort 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.959 of research on the history of the New England Patriots, 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:37.800 goes in there as the first asterisk game, and then 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:41.160 the tuck rule comes in at number two, and slowly 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:43.400 but surely, I think, over the course of the Spy 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:49.720 history start adding other ones. Remember this from how about 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:52.400 this one? From ninety? Oh? I'm sorry? It was Super 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:57.040 Bowl twenty when they got house and the world righted 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:01.080 itself for a day. I guess for everybody that's derisive 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:05.280 and hateful towards the Patriots run the Patriots Dolphins a 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.600 game known as a snowplow game because in the fourth quarter, 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:14.160 a snow plow that was piloted by Mark Henderson, who 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.799 was on work release from prison, came to clear out 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:20.919 a spot for John Smith to kick a field goal 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:24.560 that gave the Patriots the three nothing win over the Dolphins. 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:28.360 But this game was about so much more than that play, 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:30.520 and there's so much to go along with it that 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:32.960 I can't wait to get you over this podcast because 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:36.160 games that look football in the snow, football in the rain, 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:40.359 football anywhere affected by the elements always becomes memorable. And 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:43.720 this is one of those games. While we're starting here now, 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:46.160 this is the year the NFL was disrupted by the 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:49.000 players strike, So here we are in the middle of December. 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:51.440 The Patriots come into this game at two and three, 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:53.400 the Dolphins are four and one, and this is to 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:55.360 see the Dolphins when they wind up going to Super 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:57.919 Bowl this year, part of what will do a later 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:03.560 special teams on. But the reason this became the snowplow Game, 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.120 and it was such a big deal as because leading 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:08.800 up to the game it had been rainy all week. 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:12.399 So you got rain all week in New England, and 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.959 then it gets incredibly cold and that coachs the field 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:17.720 like a sheet of ice, all right, So you have 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.200 rain for a bunch of days, then it gets so 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.200 cold it coach the field like ice. Temperatures get to 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:26.760 the low twenties thirty mile winds and then, of course, 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.080 you know, to add insult to injury for this, a 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:33.880 heavy snowfalls during the game. So you have what turns 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.200 out to be this three nothing game where players had 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:40.080 so much trouble uh staying up, throwing the football, moving downfield. 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:43.120 It wasn't just the snow, it was the fact that 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.560 you had snow on top of what was like a 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:50.000 sheet of ice. So players have a tough time. If 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.640 you even had a place where the field was cleared 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.760 of snow. Players couldn't really stand you know. It was 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:58.440 where we can run forward at a decent clip a 0:03:58.440 --> 0:03:59.920 little bit, but just try to cut and go to 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.280 the side and cut back. You couldn't do it because 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.080 of the ice and that layer under the snow. So 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.880 you had ice and snow, which is something people forget. 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:09.280 They's like, oh, it was a snow game. There's a 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:11.080 lot of snow on the field. No, because of the 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:13.480 ice on the field, that made it even more difficult 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:14.760 for the team to try to move the ball up 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.680 and down the field. Yeah, you watched the highlights and 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:20.599 go back through. Everybody's trying to find their footing as 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:22.640 they get into their formations, like here, let me get 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:25.080 my cleats in a little bit, so I at least 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:29.120 I'm not sliding as I take my first step. Uh. 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:32.880 Just amazing each run tack on an extra five yards 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:35.560 where you're carrying a couple of defenders. But yeah, it 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.039 was a North South game. Uh, little little work to 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:41.920 the outside and if you did, if you were able 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:45.520 to navigate, that decided advantage right because you got a 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:48.120 guy trying to find an angle to tackle you and 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.840 you're bouncing off because he's he's gotten no footing by 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.480 which to really stick you, So it's either push you 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:56.240 out of bounds or wait for you to fall of 0:04:56.320 --> 0:05:00.360 your own volition. The players you need to know from 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.239 this game. New England's quarterback at this point was Steve Grogan. 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:05.960 They had Mosy to Tupu and Mark Van Egan at 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:08.880 running back. John Smith, the kicker, who we have a 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:12.240 lot on him, had just come back after missing all 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:15.000 of the season because of a knee injury. So this 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:18.640 was kind of a meandering Patriots team that was still 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.360 a little bit of time away from the eight five 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:22.960 team that wound up going to the Super Bowl and 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:25.760 getting dumped on by the Bears. But this was at okay. 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.159 Grogan was nearing the end, and the pain didn't have 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:30.400 a lot of playmakers. And here's Van Egan over from 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:32.680 the Raiders, all the big hey day he had in 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:36.839 the seventies with the Raiders, uh, trying to get things done. Meanwhile, 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:40.799 the Dolphins, they were built on what most great teams 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:43.480 were built on in the seventies and eighties in the NFL, 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:46.800 A phenomenal defense and a great running game. I mean, 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:49.960 this was the defense of the Killer Bees. Doug Betters, 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.040 Kim Bokamper, Bob baum howerd who was an All Pro 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:56.760 that year, Bob Bradzinski, Glenn and Lyle Blackwood. You know, 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:59.440 these are all and of course A J. Dewey. Thankfully 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:01.239 I don't have to talk about A. J. Dewey until 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:04.680 another podcast. But this was how great their tia, This 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:07.720 defense was fantastic, and they're running attack is one of 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:09.760 the top running attacks in the NFL. You know, it 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.880 was Andre Franklin who really got things done and was 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:14.640 able to get up and down the field. He had 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.880 a big year for them, Tony Nathan, Tommy Vigorito out 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.479 of the backfield, they all found a way to make play. 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.640 So this was a team that relied on a it's 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.719 it's defense, be its running game, and only at the 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:29.920 very end on its quarterback. Because this is pre Dan Marino, 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.960 and this is David Woodley, who had a tough time 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:36.000 making plays, you know, and and eventually wind up getting 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:38.640 replaced by Marino. And this is this is one of 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:45.120 those games he had a tough time making. Nine games 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:52.520 started this year for one se yeah, one thousand eighty yards, 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:57.279 five touchdowns, eight interceptions. Yeah, he did add two hundred 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:02.240 seven yards and two touchdowns on the ground by completions 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:07.720 in nine games. Again, when you've got a dual headed backfield, uh, 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.520 and a strong defense, I guess that's where you where 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:15.800 you leave it. But man, not exactly a prolific offense 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:19.360 in any way, shape or form. Uh. And well, I 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.520 guess when you add this game into the stats, when 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.640 you do the averaging, it's really gonna pull things down 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.440 in a hurry. Remember that, kids, basic math. You need 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:32.000 a bigger sample size otherwise you have these wild swings. Yeah. Yeah, 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:34.120 and I say that Bill. Look, David Woodley had had 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:36.320 a lot of difficulty later on in life, and he 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:39.000 passed away in early year. Uh. He had he had 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:42.640 problems due to drinking. So it was you know, his 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.120 was you know, had kind of had obviously had a 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:47.360 tragic end to it. But you know, sticking from just 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:49.520 the football aspect of it, because we're talking about this 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:51.480 game and he was the quarterback here and he's the 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:53.480 quarterback of another game. We're gonna get to talk about 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:56.600 that he won. Uh, you know that he had trouble 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:59.200 making plays. But we're not doing everything the Jets every 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:01.400 it would be a lot of losses it will be 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:04.320 a lot of losses. I mean people might. I'm not 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.680 doing therapy sessions with you an hour at a time. 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:09.840 Special team sinks, Bunny, I appreciate it. I mean I 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.360 love you at all. But you know, so here was 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:16.240 the game getting into the snowplow game. Way do we 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:19.560 tell you how everything unfolded in things? Even if you 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.160 know the game, you might not be aware of this. 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:25.840 Many years later we continue on and kick things off 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:28.720 in the snow and the ice. The snowplow game next 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:49.520 on Special Teams. Before it was the snowplow game, it 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.520 was just a game in the snow that was going 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:56.560 to use snowplows. Before the Dolphins and Patriots kicked off, 0:08:56.559 --> 0:09:00.200 the coaches decided, this is Don Shulan ron Meyer pre game, 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.600 they would allow the snowplows to clear the yard lines 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:06.760 so teams could see where the football is in judge situations. 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.640 Also make it easier on TV for fans to see, okay, 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:11.280 this is where the ball is. Where the ball is, 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:15.320 so every ten yards would be plowed. On occasion, you 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.280 would see during commercial breaks, are coming back from commercial, 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:20.720 here comes the snowplow on a yard line. The thirty 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:23.200 yard line the forty yard line midfield. They would come 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:25.000 out and try to push the snow to the side 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.240 so at least they can see and you could judge 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:29.960 down in distance. So this was agreed upon before the 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.800 game by the coaches. Yes, we're gonna allow the snowplows 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:35.600 on the field to clear it. Because in the end, 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.280 if you want to argue that the snow plows should 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:40.600 have been on the field, well you did kind of 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.280 agree that you can have the snowplows on before the game, 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:46.360 so you were gonna have this. But as far as 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.840 the game goes up until the very end, it didn't matter. 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:52.640 Players couldn't cut with any power. Uh. Some players said, 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.040 we weren't really running. We were just kind of walking fast. 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:57.560 Like keep picturing people in the mall, like like really 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:00.400 old people going get my jazzer size in, get walking in. 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:03.160 We're walking. Fact, we're not really running, We're just walking 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:05.160 fast on the field. This is a quote for the 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.400 players after the game, saying we're just walking fast here 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:09.200 at this point. But yeah, I mean, go back to it, 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:11.800 your your childhood. You're a New York kid. I'm I'm 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.959 gonna Chicago, boy. I mean, there were plenty of days 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:17.600 walking to and from school that the you know, you 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:20.839 were stepping with your walk like Babe Ruth used to 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:25.320 run around basis very baby steps man, little ones where 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:27.040 there's not a whole lot of thrust a lot of 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:29.760 power because you're fearful of that next step or so 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:32.600 it would seem perhaps me more so than the Babe 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:35.600 as he rounded after each one of his round trippers. 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:39.240 But you know, I remember I see I see streets 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.680 and having to navigate, and remember wiping out a couple. 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.400 I've got a nice vivid on my right leg where 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.959 you can see where the uh of the gouging occurred 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:52.120 when I hit a post after losing my footing. So yeah, 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:55.040 I can. I can empathize with these guys as they 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.000 dealt with this day because you know, again it wasn't 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.840 just snow. There was a lot wererant to what was 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:03.640 going on as just snow on the field, really know. 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:08.120 So this game goes kind of as you expect. Teams 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:10.400 are kind of slogging a little bit. You could see 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.280 if you watch this game, players could go straight ahead. 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:15.640 It was when you had to cut, you had no 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.040 power and the cutting was kind of in slow motion. 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.080 So the snow is coming and nobody can do anything. 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:24.679 It looks like we may finally get points before halftime. 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:27.680 The Patriots drive down in the Dolphins one yard line, 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:30.120 but John Smith comes out for his first field goal 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:32.280 of the day and the field goal gets blocked. It 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.320 was doomed from the start because there was no way 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:37.560 this was getting He couldn't get it up off the 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:41.640 ground and you could tell that planting for kickers wasn't 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.319 really gonna happen. Well, he's trying to figure out exactly 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:47.760 his his approach, right, how am I seeing trying to 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.720 measure it before the snap? All right, what do I do? 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.000 I'm not gonna be able to really get full thrust. 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.200 And you're thinking, all right, well this could be the 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:57.000 only points to getting no All right now now you're 0:11:57.000 --> 0:11:59.080 thinking of field goal is never gonna happen. Now, The 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:01.240 only way is somehow the team gets in the end zone. 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.000 In fact, in the third quarter, Vevan Shaman, who was 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:06.240 the kicker for the Dolphins, he had a forty five 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.000 yard field goal blocked, so it goes zero zero into 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:11.120 the fourth quarter. Now, I don't know how you even 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.320 think if you're the Dolphins, we're gonna kick a forty 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:17.719 five yard field goal. That's the winning mental. If you 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:19.480 go for it on fourth, then you're not gonna kick 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:21.760 a forty five yard field goal in this you see 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:25.040 the snow on the field, you can't do it. That's 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:28.760 Don Shula's will to win coming forward. I mean that 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:34.040 excellence was the standard or something like that. Uh that, 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.400 And really you've moved a little ball on the ball, 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:39.520 a little bit on the ground over the course of 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:42.559 the day. But I mean there's no passing, there's there's 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:45.480 no semblance of anything. You're taking any shot to score 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:47.880 points because let's face it, you're not expecting them to 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:52.280 break off a big run at this point either, right, right, 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:54.600 So you're just saying, all right, if we can steal one, 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:56.719 if we can get one on the board, let's take 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:01.079 our shot. Field position doesn't matter here. So finally, in 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:03.960 the fourth quarter, New England puts together a drive strictly 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:06.840 on the ground, right van Egen into Tupou carry the load, 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:09.640 but they get forced into a fourth and ten from 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:13.920 the sixteen yard line. The game is ending. Ron Meyer, 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.480 the head coach, yells to a guy on the snowplow, 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:20.520 Mark Henderson, who we know when later years. Yeah, the 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:23.199 guy was on work release on running the snowplow at Foxborough. 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.160 They yelled at him. He yells to him to get 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:28.640 onto the field, and you see Steve Grogan who kind 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.320 of yells, hey, go on the field and clear a 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:33.640 spot for us to put the ball down to kick 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:35.600 a field goal, because we can't put it down in 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.440 the snow and and try to kick it. So Mark 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.880 Henderson takes the snowplow on the field and you can 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:43.920 see him going down the yard line and no one's 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:45.920 saying anything because well, we see this right, the guy 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:47.839 is going to clear the yard line. This ball is 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:49.600 gonna be put down a few yards back in that 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:51.840 he gets the middle of the field though, and he 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:56.120 just swerves out right around where they're gonna put the 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:58.600 ball down, and he swerves back in and goes off 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:02.800 the field. Man if Shula was miked up his reaction, 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.840 and and you know what looks later on. You're not 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:09.120 gonna believe what some people actually had to say about 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:12.199 him swerving on the field. It's gonna it's gonna pass understanding. 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:14.439 But he goes out and he clears this spot where 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:16.160 they would put the ball down for the field goal. 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:18.760 And Sheila is in sense. Wait wait, wait, wait, you 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:20.680 can't just do that and clear a spot for the 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:23.520 field goal. But that's what happens. Well, he was trying 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.200 to avoid the huddle, which was a long the yard mark. 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:29.600 It's clearly he's almost hitting guys, almost hit a guy 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:31.640 if he doesn't swerve out. So maybe that was his 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:33.240 reason why I just swerve out, and you know, I 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:35.880 didn't want to hit anybody. So he he gets the 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:39.800 spot there, and Matt Kavanaugh is the holder, who would 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.200 also be the holder in another very big weather game 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:44.280 coming up down the line in special teams. Let me 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.240 just kind of give you a little bit of foreshadowing there. 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.160 Matt Kavanaugh comes back in a big way in a 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:50.960 different game as well. So Matt Kavanaugh is the holder. 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.920 John Smith is the kicker. It's from thirty three yards out, 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:58.520 and watching this kick, you can tell John Smith didn't 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:02.320 go to the ball with his normal steps, like he knew, 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.080 I'm gonna step and it's gonna be really coold. I 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.560 need to step on this part of the field because 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:09.880 I gotta be able to plant and there's no snow. 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.400 But he knows if I go in and swing my 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.080 foot and kicking as hard as I can, I'm gonna 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:17.760 slip and fall. So it's a really weird approach to 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.800 the ball where he kind of oversteps a little bit, 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.120 just to knowing that if I overstep, I can keep 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:26.240 my balance a little bit more, and he kicks it 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.040 from thirty three yards out. The fans go crazy. Finally 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.400 the points in the game, and they lead the game 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:34.440 three to nothing, all because Mark Henderson came out and 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:36.800 he did that little swerve and he put a spot 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:39.760 on the field. John Smith kicks the field goal and 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:42.480 the Patriots are up three nothing at this point. It's 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.680 not it's not one of those historical NFL games yet, 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:48.160 but slowly it's taking on a life of its own 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:52.840 because the Dolphins are just insane that this happened, and 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.520 they got even more insane on the sideline after the 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:57.680 play happened, because part of it is all, you can't 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.200 do this, but he's not gonna make the field anyway. 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.320 Oh man, dude just made the field goal. Uh an 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.360 insurmountable lead at this juncture of the game. How did 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:07.400 you let that happen? How did you let a guy 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:09.760 swerve on the fielding clear a place for us to 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:12.120 put the football down him to kick it. But that's 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:14.320 what happened, and now the Patriots lead this game three 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:18.400 to nothing. Also the oddity of John Smith kicking with 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.360 his left foot, because you don't see an awful lot 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.720 of that running around the National Football League either, So 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.120 you know you've got a little bit of a tail 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:29.560 to it as well. So he just needed to drive 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.880 it as straight and hard as he could. There's not 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:35.080 a lot of loft on it was on mine drive 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:39.280 h that gets through, but it gets everybody excited. You've 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.160 got some great pictures of him wearing a a jaunty 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:48.400 little hat and his gortex coat on his John Gear tractor. Now, 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:50.840 a lot of these things, you know if you're familiar 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.760 with the Snowplow game. So this is where in the pod, 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:56.120 this is the point in the podcast where I go, Okay, 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:58.960 now here's some stuff you probably didn't know, right. You've 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:00.920 seen that, You've seen the high like you've seen the play, 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.440 the snow Plow play. You know Mark Henderson, Yes, he 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:05.320 was on work release. He would say after the game, 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:07.040 I knew I was gonna be in trouble. What are 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.879 they gonna do? Put me in jail? I've already been there, boom. 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.960 But here's where things maybe things you don't know about 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:16.919 this game. The Dolphins nearly win this game. They're so 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.440 men on the sideline. Patriots players said after the game, 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.800 we could tell how pissed they were because this probably 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:26.479 shouldn't have happened. And they start going down the field. 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:29.879 They're throwing the football down the field. Not something that 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:32.239 they could do the entire game, that no team could do. 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.640 In fact, Steve Grogan's stats for this game, the Patriots quarterback, 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:38.840 he was two out of five for thirteen yards for 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.000 the game, two out of five for thirteen yards and 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:44.840 a pick. That was Steve Grogan's numbers on the day. 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:47.520 That's all. They threw the football five times. They ran 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:51.240 they ran the football like ninety times, but they threw 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:56.840 the football five times. But now to two p thirteen 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.560 eight one Colins seven for eight teams. Oh yeah, that's 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:02.720 all they did that, that's all that was their day. 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:05.640 Forty three rushing attempts on the day, and they threw 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.399 the ball third and threw the ball five times. But 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:12.080 David Woodley in comparison through for seventy six yards in 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:14.800 this game. It looked like a three yard game, especially 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:17.280 at the end, because that's how they start going down 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:19.320 the field. Now, there was enough time left, but the 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:22.520 Dolphins were so met they're throwing the football. Duriel Harris 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:25.200 catches a pass for seventeen yards, all right. A couple 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.359 more plays later, Tony Nathan runs for a first down 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:32.400 on fourth and one. Another pass to Duriel Harris gets 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:35.159 the ball down to the twenty yard line, and you're thinking, 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.480 the Dolphins are gonna do what nobody could do today. 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:41.159 They're gonna throw the football down the field, get in 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:44.320 the end zone and win. But in one on one coverage, 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:47.120 Woodley throws two inside and the ball is picked off 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:50.480 by Don Blackman. The Patriots have it. They nearly kill 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:53.280 the clock, but because the Dolphins still had all of 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:55.560 their time outs, they actually get the ball back for 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:58.280 one final hail Mary that gets picked off of the 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:02.040 goal line. The game is over and the Dolphins lose 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:05.400 the game three nothing, and it becomes the snowplow game. 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:08.280 But the Dolphins almost did it. They you know, they 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:10.320 almost threw the ball down the field. And you can 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:13.199 see this pass that that David Woodley throws is just 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:15.920 a little bit too close there was no separation uh 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:19.159 from the receiver of the dB and and and you 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:22.400 get the pick by Don Blackman, and that clinches the game. 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:25.040 But boy, for a second, the Dolphins almost had it. 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:28.120 Great play. He goes outside shoulder, you got a shot right, 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:34.160 instead throws it two inside uh and and a good play. Uh. 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:38.200 In that sweet red jersey, you can you can see 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:42.560 them a lot more in the snow, because there's no 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:46.400 question about that. So after the game, Ron Meyer admits 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:49.639 waving the snowplow on. It's okay, what are they gonna do? 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:52.439 Fire me? Don Shula says that should never have happened. 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.560 Now at the time, Sula had the image of and 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:57.880 this would be blown to hell. Weeks later, Sula had 0:19:57.880 --> 0:19:59.480 the image of, Hey, we're not going to cheat and 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:01.320 do anything to the field or anything else that we 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:03.600 should be doing. We're not gonna do that, right. He 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:05.560 went and talked to the referees after the game. The 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:09.000 referees basically said to him, we can't control the removal 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:11.840 of snow on the field. We we can't the protest. 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:13.680 Come on, what are you gonna do? Make him put 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:15.200 it back on? No, you gotta put the snow back 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:17.480 on right in that spot that you cleared up because 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:19.919 they agreed we're going to have the snowplow guy go 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:22.000 on the field. It's not like the snowplow guy went 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:24.480 on the field and he wasn't supposed to. And the 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:27.119 referee said, well, this has been what you agreed to, 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:30.639 so we we we can't just say all right, well 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:32.840