Each NFL team's greatest play of all-time and why
By Nick Villano
Indianapolis Colts - John Mackey Tipped Catch
January 17, 1971
When a franchise has some of the greats at the quarterback position, one expects those players to represent the team when it comes to the greatest play of all time, but the Indianapolis Colts are a little different. Yes, Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas, and even Andrew Luck had a litany of amazing plays, but it was actually Unitas's mistake that led to the best play of all time. In Super Bowl V, the Colts were trying to come back against the Dallas Cowboys, and Unitas sent a pass into traffic. It went off the hands of a Dallas defender and right into the hands of John Mackey.
Mackey caught the ball at the 50-yard line and raced to the endzone. Nobody was able to catch him, and the future Hall of Famer was able to race for a 75-yard touchdown. What made it more impressive is the ball came off the hands of Mel Renfro, another future Hall of Famer.
We don’t want to disparage the Marlin Jackson interception that ended their demons against the Patriots or the Alan Ameche run that ended the “Greatest Game Ever Played” in the 1958 NFL Championship, but those plays aren’t actually that impressive. Ameche had a whole any NFL writer could make it through to score, and Jackson took advantage of the rare Tom Brady mistake.
Meanwhile, Mackey put himself in a great spot and showed why he was one of the great tight ends of all time. He was able to use his Football IQ, along with surprising speed, to score a key touchdown in the second quarter.