# Titans kicker admits he took a dive on the kick he missed **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 12, 2003, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082 "2003-01-12T04:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![foxfiregrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3da27b/32.png) [@foxfiregrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxfiregrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/21 "2003-01-12T09:23:56Z")
I’m sure that isn’t true, **Weirddave**. And, anyway, I thought the Steelers played quite well. I cheered for both teams about equally. I’d probably be upset if I were a strong supporter of the Steelers. They played a good game, and lost on a call that may have been correct, but also seemed rather petty. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/22 "2003-01-12T10:38:51Z")
If I were a supporter of the Steelers, I would be mad at the guy that ran into the kicker. Even if they had called “running into” rather than “roughing”, it would still have given Nedney another shot at the FG. And I’m sure every kicker in the league plays it up a bit when he is contacted on the followthrough. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/23 "2003-01-12T14:44:40Z")
They did call “running into” rather than “roughing”. Roughing would’ve given the Titans a 1st down, and they would most likely had tried another play or two before kicking again. The running into call gave them 5 yards and a redo of the down. Also, the rule is: Unless you’re blatently pushed into him, or actually touch the ball, the kicker is not to be touched. The NFL sometimes has silly rules, but this one is supposed to prevent injuries to a player in a vunerable position. That all being said, I, too wish for a better overtime system. Even playing the entire 15 minutes would be better than sudden death. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/24 "2003-01-12T15:41:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Weirddave \* > \*\*You’ll learn that Shitsburgh fans whine about anything. They whine, whine, whine and whine. They think God decrees that they win. Reality is an unplesant shock. Give them a little latitude, They were aused children. \*\* All right, that’s it-you wanna step outside, Mister? 😛 And I have a feeling Washington is going to get majorly screamed at-what was he thinking? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/25 "2003-01-12T15:54:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nightime \* > \*\*If you are allowed to get away with offsetting penalties for what the Giants did, then why not just send all your players down the field. Why not just send the cheerleaders down the field to catch a pass. Then you can secretly have a legitimate receiver in the midst of a mass of illegal receivers, and if in the confusion he is interfered with… offsetting penalties. It doesn’t make any sense. \*\* One team committing a penalty doesn’t give you the right to commit another penalty. You play correctly, do not commit an infraction, and the play is called back on the first penalty. That’s how it is, that’s how it always has been. They never, ever, make a judgement call as to WHICH penalty is more valid, it is always offsetting penalties. WRT the kicker, they are hyper sensitive about kickers being touched after a kick. Kickers are in a very vulnerable position, off balance, on one leg, it is extremely easy to get injured. A touch that might be a joke under normal circumstances can result in a twisted ankle or knee for a kicker, that’s why it’s a penalty. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/26 "2003-01-12T16:36:40Z")
Tough loss to swallow for the Steelers. ☹ Congrats to the Titans, they’re a solid team. ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/27 "2003-01-12T16:57:12Z")
At least we(Steelers) didn’t lose to the killers(Raivens) or the old folks(Raiders). I don’t like the loss, but its easier to swallow than losing last week would have been. ---
**Author:** ![diku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@diku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diku)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/28 "2003-01-12T17:10:06Z")
Yeah, you Steelers lost to us, the Titans. And now you’re out of the playoffs, blaming everyone but your own team. Sucks, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/29 "2003-01-12T17:17:45Z")
You know, this reminds me an awful lot of last year, when the Steelers insisted they were the ones who should have been in the Super Bowl, rather than the Pats. I guess the whippings they’ve gotten this year from talented teams haven’t dampened their “we snuck into the second round of the playoffs on a weak schedule” spirits. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/30 "2003-01-12T17:21:01Z")
> [@](#): > > You’ll learn that Shitsburgh fans whine about anything. They whine, whine, whine and whine. They think God decrees that they win. Reality is an unplesant shock. Give them a little latitude, They were aused children. First, what the fuck are “aused children?” I thought we had an friendly understanding here. I didn’t bother to fall to the level of name calling, even after the fucking Ravens bit it big at the end of the season, as they are doomed to as a perennial also-ran team. I am extremely offended by your “God decrees” comment. So you’re an expert on what I think now? Fuck you, you Baltimoron. ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/31 "2003-01-12T17:38:01Z")
The OP is obviously a Steeler fan. Nedney did not “take a dive” ala an outrageous act of dishonesty. He may have embellished his reaction to the infraction (yes, I’m afraid it really happened, Pittsburgh) but he’s not fessing up to anything covert. Sorry you guys lost. Hope this thread helps you deal with it. Get over it! ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/32 "2003-01-12T18:02:39Z")
I’m an expert on the attitude of Steeler fans, having been subjected to it for years now. 1978 was a long time ago, you’re nothing special. 4 rings in the 70s was over 20 fucking years ago. It would be nice of Shitsburgh had something a little more recent to brag about, _but you don’t_. We won it all two years ago, y’all keep wetting the bed in big games, I think you should be careful with phrases like “perennial also-rans”. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/33 "2003-01-12T18:09:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Myrr21 \* > **The NFL specifically reviews this stat to make sure that it hovers around 50/50 to win in overtime, no matter who wins the coin toss.** Eh? According to NFL stats, 49% of the time, the team that wins the coin toss wins _on its first possession_, not just in overtime as a whole. (John Saunders repeated this stat on _The Sports Reporters_ this morning.) The team winning the toss in OT wins about 70% of the time. 70-30 is an awfully big edge to give to a team lucky enough to win a coin toss. Personally I’d like to see the college system implemented, with the proviso that the teams start from a bit further back, say the 40-yard line. To prevent marathon OT games like Arkansas-Ole Miss in 2001 (7 OTs!), don’t allow kicked extra points during any of the OTs and call it a tie if the teams aren’t separated after 3OTs, except in the playoffs of course. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/34 "2003-01-12T18:12:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Weirddave \* > \*\*You’ll learn that Shitsburgh fans whine about anything. They whine, whine, whine and whine. They think God decrees that they win. Reality is an unplesant shock. Give them a little latitude, They were aused children. \*\* [hijack] It was pretty low class of the Titan fans to boo the kid that won the Punt, Pass & Kick contest just because he came from Pittsburgh. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/35 "2003-01-12T18:33:30Z")
Let’s see - Washington ran into Nedney. That’s what’s called “running into the kicker.” That’s a five-yard penalty, no automatic first down. That’s what was in fact called. It was _not_ called “roughing the kicker,” which draws the 15 yards and the automatic first. So Nedney’s acting job didn’t earn a bigger penalty. If you go back a generation or so, “roughing” was called on _all_ contact between the kicker and a defender, excepting when the defender got a piece of the ball, or was pushed into the kicker. Then they carved out “running into” to cover the incidental-contact situations. Like what happened yesterday. I saw the play, and a replay or two. I don’t see where Nedney went out of his way to be run into, so it wasn’t like he made a foul happen that otherwise wouldn’t have. But he did his best to make sure the officials noticed that the infraction had indeed occurred. WTF is wrong with that?? FWIW, I agree that a 70-30 tilt in favor of the team that wins the toss, is just too much. I think that in the postseason, they should play a full period of OT, and whoever’s ahead at the end wins. If you’re still tied at the end of an extra 15 minutes, you go to sudden-death. But (my personal wrinkle here) no coin toss at that point; whoever had the ball at the end of that quarter keeps it, and they switch ends of the field, just like at the end of the 1st or 3rd quarter. ---
**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/36 "2003-01-12T18:43:50Z")
My .02 I agree with **Cheesesteak** about pentalties on kickers. It is like the situation with quaterbacks. They are very valuable players so the rules are a little stricter. I think Nedney coming out and saying that he took a dive is the dumbest thing he could possibly have done. If he did, he should not say it and it did not affect the outcome of the penalty. Jeff Fisher should slap him upside the head for saying that. I think there were several blown calls, but I’m happy with the win. Go Titans!!! ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/37 "2003-01-12T18:44:29Z")
Oh, and to clear things up, “They were abused children” is a line from Top Gun. I thought enough people had seen the movie to get the reference. I suppose I should have put [Goose][/Goose] around the reference. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Calliope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Calliope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calliope)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/38 "2003-01-12T18:45:27Z")
I’m still unsure where this quote about “acting” came from. The interview I watched had Nedney saying, word for word: “You know, I got hit. I went down. I might have spun a little more than I had to, but he definitely got me right in the ankle.” In any case, he was hit, touched, whatever. The penalty was fair. ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/39 "2003-01-12T18:53:31Z")
> [@](#): > > I agree with **Cheesesteak** about pentalties on kickers. It is like the situation with quaterbacks. They are very valuable players so the rules are a little stricter. Even worse, in fact, because kickers are in a vulnerable position, and–for punters more than placekickers–rarely get as good protection as a QB. If you watch, very rarely does the offense prevent anybody from getting to a punter; they usually just prevent the rush from getting there until it’s too late. On almost every punt play, though, you’ll see somebody charging at the punter a half second after they get the kick off. It’s usually less frequent with place kickers, if only because many teams seem to try to stop it as it goes over the line more, but still. Imagine if they were allowed to hit the guy; it would be a massacre. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082/40 "2003-01-12T18:53:36Z")
I like that proposal. And I have no problem with a little bit of histrionics to draw the penalty call, but that may be because I’ve watched a fair amount of that _other_ football, too, where getting the other side carded is a high art. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titans-kicker-admits-he-took-a-dive-on-the-kick-he-missed/148082.md?page=3)