I meant it was the only time a drop kick was successfully performed in the history of the modern NFL. I.e. since the merger. I’m aware it’s a legal play, and in fact used to be a standard method of attempting kicks. But it has long been obsolete, and its use in 2006 was purely for the purpose of doing something silly/historic. Much like the OP’s hypo.
I only mentioned it to point out that the will exists in the modern NFL to do something like the OP is suggesting – risky and pointless except for the novelty of it.
The difference (and, in the NFL’s eyes, it’s a big difference) is that Flutie’s drop-kick stunt was done by a player already under contract, who was a legitimate player for the team (he was the Pats’ third-string quarterback).
IIRC, it wasn’t particularly “risky”, as it was in the last game of the season, a game which the Patriots didn’t care too much about anyway (as evidenced by the fact that they played most of the game with their second-stringers). They lost the game, but they’d already sewed up the AFC East, and were (IIRC) already assured of the #4 seed in the playoffs. Flutie’s kick was done in the 4th quarter of the game, with very little riding on it. (Boxscore from the game in question)
In general, the NFL wouldn’t approve a stunt like a one-game contract, where the intent was to let an older player (who is clearly not at an athletic level where he’s a legitimate member of the team) get in for a play. (Insert your own “NFL = No Fun League” joke here.)
What was Shaq’s vertical jump in his prime? I recall he could get up a little bit, but most of those really tall guys don’t have much vertical jump ability (and often don’t need it). A guy like Calvin Johnson at 6’5" with a 40" vertical could cover a Shaquille O’Neal type guy I would think.
The league office has to approve all player contracts. They would argue that it’s not a legitimate contract, and that the old player was not a legitimate, contributing player for his team (for example, Roger Staubach, the example you gave in your OP, is 69 years old, and 32 years removed from his last NFL play). They would likely argue that, even though the intent was to honor the old player, it would make a mockery out of the game. While teams may occasionally have extreme cases of “specialists” on their rosters (such as the kicker who only kicks long field goals), no team has a specialist for “taking a knee”.
Note that this is a different case than the “one-day” contracts which about-to-retire players will occasionally sign with their old teams, so that they can “retire as a Packer / Jet / Steeler / whatever”. In those cases, the players are actually signing full-year contracts, though both the player and the team understand that there is no intent to complete the terms of the contract..and the NFL allows this sort of contract.
Maybe. The sites I see his vertical quoted as anywhere from 32"-36", with most in the 36" range. That said, Megatron is much bigger than most CBs. Either way, with the NBA lockout in full swing, some GM with a team on the bubble needs to give Andrew Bynum, Joakim Noah, Tyson Chandler, or Serge Ibaka a call. What is there to lose.
A roster spot that could be taken by a guy who isn’t quite as tall, but has far greater football skills and is useful in more than that one extremely limited situation.
Fair point, but there are plenty of basically worthless players on NFL rosters. One spot is generally not a make or break thing for a relatively healthy team.
Nobody said it would make or break the team. But you only have 53 roster spots for all your various starters, situational players, backups, and practice guys, and only 45 can suit up for the game. So those spots are at a premium and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to burn one roster spot on the hypothetical out of work NBA player who doesn’t play football just because he’s a few inches taller than your other wide receivers. Remember, we’re talking about having someone on the team who is only going to be used in goal line situations. He’s useless anywhere else, and it seems like at best he would be a marginal improvement over the guys you already have, and those guys play football and can be used in any situation. Is it worth giving up an extra special teams guy or linebacker for that?
Yes, I think it would be. Particularly if that player is also a decent blocker. Let’s say you get three situations a game where such a player could be used. Getting even one extra TD every game or two makes him far more productive than many on a NFL team. That said, I can see how reasonable people may disagree, but I still think it would be worth trying a guy like that out.
Kinda eerie. Jon Gruden is suggesting exactly this on MNF right now.
The chance of getting hurt would probably make any NBA player who is pretty good think twice about stepping out on the field. Really tall guys tend to have pretty iffy knees, and the chance of getting rolled up and ending your basketball career is too great.
Besides, there are lots of athletic guys out there over 6’ 6". They don’t play in the NFL because they’re not fast enough, tough enough, or skilled enough. They might make a play or two, but they wouldn’t survive more than a handful of games.
A young Shaq was a pretty formidable athlete. He probably could have done some damage, but my guess is that he’s too slow to make it in the NFL.
I’m trying to remember a conference championship game I saw (maybe even a Super Bowl?) where former Bears QB Jim McMahon was an assistant coach; the game was a blow out for his team and it looked like they might put him in. He was suited up and throwing warmup passes on the sidelines, causing the crowd to go completely nuts, but he didn’t make it in. Anybody remember this?
As far as I can tell, McMahon has never acted as a coach at any level. You may be thinking of the 1996 playoffs, culminating in Super Bowl XXXI, in which McMahon was Brett Favre’s backup with the Packers, and which turned out to be McMahon’s final games as a player. (Note that the Super Bowl was in New Orleans, which is where McMahon won Super Bowl XX with the Bears in 1986.)
Also keep in mind that the player either would need to be already in the Hall of Fame or have pretty much no chance of ever getting in - otherwise, he have to wait at least another five years before he would be eligible again.
Taking this question to a similar, I’m a big fan of Ultimate, but I have a suspicion that it could never really succeed as a big-money sport because this type of gimmick (just get a super-tall person) would actually work perfectly in Ultimate. There’s generally no physical contact, and it’s very easy to throw a frisbee that floats slowly while descending towards the ground, so just finding someone who is freakishly tall and jump a bit, sending them into the end zone, and throwing to them every time might work depressingly well.
I remember they used to send McMahon out to take a knee when the Packers were ahead at the end of the 4th. Somewhere there’s a quote from him joking about how that killed his rushing stats.
The Redskins apparently sign players for one game just to pump the player for information against that week’s opponent. See Tashard Choice, former Dallas Cowboy, signed by Washington before the Cowboys-Redskins game, released two days after the game.
In the parallel world where Ultimate is a big sport, it wouldn’t be that hard to make a rule to stop this; look at the rules in basketball they had to make (3 seconds, goaltending, offensive goaltending) to force big, tall guys to actually work a bit around the basket.