Lateral Pass - Famous Plays in History

Famous Plays in History

The lateral pass rule, or rather the lack of restrictions contained therein, has given rise to some of the most memorable and incredible plays in professional football history. Both collegiate and NFL football have certain examples of football lore which involve laterals.

One famous college play involving the backward passes is simply known as The Play. In the 1982 Big Game between Stanford and California, with four seconds left and trailing by one point, Cal ran the ball back on a kickoff all the way for the game-winning touchdown using five backward passes, eventually running through the Stanford Band, who had already taken the field (believing the game was over after Stanford players appeared to have tackled a Cal ball-carrier). The game remains controversial to this day because of Stanford's contention that the Cal player's knee was down before he passed the ball during the second lateral and that the fifth lateral was an illegal forward pass.

A well-known and controversial NFL lateral pass occurred during the Music City Miracle play at the end of the 2000 playoff game between the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills. The play was a true lateral (the ball did not move forward or backward in the pass), but because the receiver was a step ahead of the passer and reached back to catch the ball it gave the appearance of an illegal forward pass.

Another well known backward pass in the NFL was the River City Relay in a game between the New Orleans Saints and the Jacksonville Jaguars on December 21, 2003. With time winding down the Saints threw backward passes and brought the ball down the length of the field for a touchdown, but kicker John Carney missed the extra point, which would have tied the game, so the Saints lost by one point, 20–19.

In a Division III college football game on October 27, 2007, Trinity University was trailing by two points with two seconds left in a game against conference rival Millsaps College. Starting from their own 40-yard line, Trinity called a play for a short pass across the middle. The receiver pitched the ball backward, with a sequence of additional backward passes as players were in danger of being tackled. The "Mississippi Miracle" ultimately included 15 backward passes as it covered 60 yards for the winning touchdown.