10 worst plays in NFL history
By John Buhler
October 18th is the one year anniversary of the Griff Whalen fake punt attempt for the Indianapolis Colts. So here are the 10 worst plays in NFL history…
It’s only been a year since one of the worst plays in NFL history. The Indianapolis Colts executed the worst play call in league history when head coach Chuck Pagano thought it was a good idea to run that Griff Whalen to Colt Anderson fake punt.
The Colts sent everybody else on that special teams unit to one side of the field. Whalen would snap the ball to Anderson, the New England Patriots would sack him for a turnover on downs, and the Sunday Night Football crew lost their minds.
We could hear Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth struggling to make sense of Pagano’s despicable play call. That happened on Sunday, October 18th, 2015. To commemorate one of the worst plays in NFL history, here are the 10 that were the absolute worst.
10. Garo’s Gaffe
The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only team in the Super Bowl era to have completed an undefeated season. Don Shula’s team went 17-0 that year, winning Super Bowl VII over the Washington Redskins.
That 1972 team was near perfect, but is best remembered for one of the worst plays in NFL’s history: Garo’s Gaffe. Perhaps the 1972 Dolphins’ weakness was its kicking game. Kicker Garo Yepremian had a knack for kicking the football too low on field goal attempts. He was an accurate kicker, but would get blocked occasionally.
Shula had his team up 14-0 on Washington late in the fourth quarter. Rather than going for it on fourth and four, Shula called on Yepremian to kick a 42-yard field goal. A made Yepremian field goal would have made it 17-0 Dolphins over the Redskins to cap off a perfect 7-0 season.
Well, Shula’s hubris got in the way and Yepremian’s goal attempt was blocked by Washington defensive tackle Bill Brunidge. The football would bounce back to Yepremian before holder/stellar backup quarterback Earl Morrall could get his hands on it.
Yepremian was running for his life in the Miami backfield. He tried to pass the ball to star running back Larry Csonka, who also blocked for the Dolphins on field goals. Yepremian’s pass went straight up in the air and he batted it right into Redskins cornerback Mike Bass’ hands. Bass would take the fumble back for a touchdown to make it 14-7 after the made Redskins PAT.
Miami would complete its pursuit of perfection by the same score. That 1972 team was perfect, but all anybody remembers about that Dolphins team was Garo’s Gaffe.