Après The Play, je continue dans le football américain :
Montana-to-Clark, "The Catch"
If Joe Montana had turned out to be a merely decent quarterback and the 49ers just another team, "The Catch" would not have been permanently burned into our memories by countless replays. But since Montana-to-Clark introduced us to the Greatest Quarterback of All Time and sent the Niners on their way to the first of five Super Bowl titles, it will live forever as one of the signature plays in the illustrious history of the greatest sports league ever. If movie directors can get upset at Blockbuster for editing their films, Dwight Clark should be able to sue Gatorade for making those commercials that make it look as if "The Catch" never happened.
Flutie to Phelan Ave Maria
It had been an amazing college football game, an epic shootout between two quarterbacks who would go on to long pro careers. But in the end, as would almost always be the case with games played in the Orange Bowl, the University of Miami looked certain to be celebrating a win when the clock struck zero. But then came Flood Tip, the Hail Mary that delivered the Jesuit school to victory.
Doug Flutie dropped back inside his own 40 and let fly from his 37. The 5-foot-9 QB threw the ball 65 yards on the fly into the waiting arms of Gerard Phelan in the end zone to give Boston College a 47-45 victory. As if the play itself wasn't memorable enough, it was immortalized in a Saturday Night Live sketch with Rich Hall as Flutie and Eddie Murphy as the Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Immaculate reception
Franco Harris's shoe-top snatch and TD sprint off a last-second carom against the Raiders in a 1972 playoff game will never be forgotten. Not because it launched the Steelers on their dynastic run — they wouldn't win a Super Bowl for another two years. Not because it capped a great game — it had been a 7-6 dog up until the propitious bounce. Not because it was an incredible physical achievement — it was pretty much a fluke. No, the play will be remembered forever because someone had the good sense to give it an awesome name.
There is some debate as to who coined the phrase "The Immaculate Reception" — Steelers fan Michael Ord is most often credited with the brilliance — but there is no doubting that the name has helped immortalize the play. Raiders fans — once they get done complaining about Tom Brady's tuck play — will tell you that this one never should have counted either. They point not just to the rule that Harris could not legally receive the ball if teammate Frenchy Fuqua had been the only other player to touch it — a rule that has since changed — but also to the blatant clip of Oakland linebacker Phil Villiapiano during the subsequent pursuit of Franco.
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