When I was 7 or 8 years old, I got what remains my favorite Christmas gift ever, even though it's been rendered obsolete thanks to technological advances. The gift: "NFL Films: 100 Greatest Touchdowns" VHS Tape. My uncle gave it to me on Christmas Eve at my parent's house when the whole family was over, and we promptly popped it in the VCR and watched the entire thing. All 100 TDs.
Eventually I memorized the entire ranking from 100 to 1, though now all I remember is that Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception" was No. 1. The tape had everything from Otto Graham slinging the pill around to Fran Tarkenton doing his best Michael Vick impression before Michael Vick was even born to Jim Brown breaking 11 tackles in one play. One TD that always stood out to me though was Tony Dorsett's 99-yard touchdown run, for obvious reasons. Prior to Derrick Henry's TD run from 2018, Dorsett's run was the only 99-yard TD run in NFL history. I must have watched this tape and this TD hundreds of times, to the point where I could do the call ("to the 30, to the 40!") as the play happened. Not sure who it was, but it's so good. I was able to find the exact one I'm thinking of on YouTube:
"NINETY-NINE YARDS!" Outstanding call. And on Monday Night Football, no less.
Despite seeing this play countless times, I never knew what the NFL Throwback Twitter account pointed out on Tuesday, that the Dallas Cowboys only had 10 men on the field when it happened. What??
To all the boomers reading this that have fire breathing out of their mouths, I'm sorry. Actually, let's be honest, not a single person over the age of 50 is reading this. They're just going to angrily post a broken link on their Facebook page and call me a big dumb millennial idiot who can't change a tire for not knowing there was only 10 men on the field for Dorsett's run.
I guess the point is, I feel like any time the Dorsett run is replayed, no one mentions that there was only 10 men on the field. Perhaps I'm wrong and it's been mentioned so many times that it goes without saying (Vikings fans are probably fine with this), but I can't recall ever hearing about it until now. As if the play wasn't legendary enough already.
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