The true story
Every year, two California colleges, Cal and Stanford, play a football game so important it's simply called the Big Game. In 1982, Stanford's quarterback was John Elway, one of the best players in the country, playing his last college game.
With only four seconds left, Stanford kicked a field goal to take a 20–19 lead. Stanford's fans and players were sure they had won. All Cal had left was one kickoff return.
Stanford kicked the ball. A Cal player caught it and, just before he was tackled, tossed it sideways to a teammate. That's called a lateral, and it's legal as long as the ball doesn't go forward. Cal players lateraled again. And again. And again. Five laterals in all.
Meanwhile, the Stanford marching band thought the game was over and marched right onto the field! Cal's Kevin Moen grabbed the last lateral and raced through the band toward the end zone, where he crashed into a trombone player. Touchdown. Cal won 25–20.
Stanford fans still argue that a Cal player's knee was down during one of the laterals. The referees said the touchdown counted. Today, fans everywhere know it simply as The Play.
Talk about it
- Why is it important to keep trying until the very last second?
- Stanford fans say the play should not have counted. How do referees decide when something is too close to call?
- If you were the trombone player, how would you tell this story?
Try this
Draw The Play as a comic strip in four panels: the kick, the laterals, the band, the touchdown. Add a speech bubble to every panel.
Good for: Sequencing events · Narrative writing · Point of view
