Holy Roller (American football)

In American football, the Holy Roller was a controversial game-winning play by the Oakland Raiders against the San Diego Chargers on September 10, 1978, at San Diego Stadium (now SDCCU Stadium) in San Diego, California. It was officially ruled as a forward fumble by Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler that was recovered by his teammate, tight end Dave Casper, in the end zone for a touchdown, ultimately giving Oakland the 21–20 win. However, there have been differing interpretations of how this play should have actually been ruled, and it has remained a controversial play for fans of both teams involved. The NFL amended its rules after the 1978 season in order to prevent a recurrence of the play. Chargers fans refer to the play as the Immaculate Deception.[1][2]

Holy Roller
San Diego Stadium, the site of the game.
Oakland Raiders
(1–1)		 San Diego Chargers
(1–1)
21 20
Head coach:
John Madden		 Head coach:
Tommy Prothro
1234 Total
OAK 07014 21
SD 01307 20
DateSeptember 10, 1978
StadiumSan Diego Stadium, San Diego, California
RefereeJerry Markbreit
TV in the United States
NetworkNBC
AnnouncersJim Simpson and Paul Warfield

Had the Chargers won this game, and had all other games that season remained with the same outcome, they would have made the playoffs taking the fifth seed over the Houston Oilers, by virtue of a tiebreaker. Both the Chargers and Oilers would have finished with a 10-6 record, but the Chargers' final game of the season was a victory over the Oilers, so the Chargers would have won the tiebreaker on a head-to-head matchup and clinched the fifth seed in the postseason. The final Houston-San Diego game therefore would have had direct playoff consequence, with the winner advancing to the playoffs and the loser being eliminated.

The play

With 10 seconds left in the game, the Raiders had possession of the ball at the Chargers' 14-yard line, trailing 20–14. Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler took the snap and found himself about to be sacked by Chargers linebacker Woodrow Lowe on the 24-yard line. The ball came out of Stabler's hands and moved forward towards the Chargers' goal line. Raiders running back Pete Banaszak appeared to try to recover the ball on the 12-yard line, but did not keep his footing, and pitched the ball with both hands even closer to the end zone. Raiders tight end Dave Casper was the next player to reach the ball but he also seemingly could not get a handle on it. He batted and kicked the ball into the end zone, where he fell on it for the game-tying touchdown as time ran out. With the ensuing extra point by placekicker Errol Mann, the Raiders won 21–20.

According to the NFL rulebook, "If a runner intentionally fumbles forward, it is a forward pass."[3][4] Also during the play, the game officials ruled that Banaszak and Casper's actions were legal because it was impossible to determine if they intentionally batted the ball forward, which would have been ruled a penalty. The National Football League (NFL) also supported referee Jerry Markbreit's call that Stabler fumbled the ball instead of throwing it forward.[5][4]

For years, Stabler publicly stated that it was a fumble. However, in a 2008 interview on NFL Films, he was asked if he could convince the camera crew that he did not flip the ball forward. Stabler responded, "No, I can't convince you of that, because I did. I mean, what else was I going to do with it? Throw it out there, shake the dice."[4][6] Banaszak and Casper also admitted that they deliberately batted the ball towards the end zone.[7]

1978 Week Three: Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers
1 2 34Total
Raiders 0 7 01421
Chargers 0 13 0720

at San Diego Stadium, San Diego, California

Game information

Reaction
The ball, flipped forward, is loose! A wild scramble, two seconds on the clock, Casper grabbing the ball—it is ruled a fumble! Casper has recovered in the end zone! The Oakland Raiders have scored on the most zany, unbelievable, absolutely impossible dream of a play. ... Madden is on the field. He wants to know if it's real. They said yes, get your big butt out of here! He does! ... There's nothing real in the world anymore! The Raiders have won the football game! Fifty-two thousand people minus a few lonely Raider fans are stunned. ... This one will be relived forever!

Raiders play-by-play announcer Bill King, calling the play on KGO-AM

Chargers fans responded with T-shirts depicting a blindfolded referee signaling a touchdown along with the words Immaculate Deception.[8][9] The nickname was a play off the Immaculate Reception, a play that went against the Raiders in the 1972 playoffs against Pittsburgh.[10]

In response to the Holy Roller, the league passed new rules in the off-season, restricting fumble advances by the offense. If a player fumbles after the two-minute warning in a half/overtime, or on fourth down at any time during the game, only the fumbling player can recover and advance the ball. If that player's teammate recovers the ball during those situations, it is placed back at the spot of the fumble, unless it was a recovery for a loss, in which case the ball is dead and placed at the point of recovery.[6][11]

The Holy Roller play was directly referenced on December 14, 2014 in response to a critical play in the Green Bay Packers' loss to the Buffalo Bills. When Aaron Rodgers had the ball knocked out of his hand by Mario Williams, it rolled backwards into the end zone and came to a complete stop; Packer RB Eddie Lacy picked up the ball and tried to run with it, but the referee approached quickly, waving his hands to declare the play dead, and after talking to the back judge, signaled a safety for Buffalo. The NFL Director of Officiating said that since the Holy Roller rules were in place, the only person who could have picked up the fumble and advanced it for Green Bay was the original fumbler (Rodgers) and the safety call was correct.

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See also

References
  1. Conley, Cecil (September 9, 2001). "NFL's crazy plays, crazy people". St. Louis Pst-Dispatch. p. D5. Retrieved May 1, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. The Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers on Sept. 10, 1978, at Jack Murphy Stadium on a play San Diego fans called the "Immaculate Deception."
  2. Walker, Teresa M. (October 25, 2019). "NFL At 100: Arrival of 1970s ushers in NFL's modern era". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 1, 2020. The play, derisively known as the Immaculate Deception by Chargers fans, led to an NFL rule change.
  3. Kenney, Kirk (September 8, 1987). "The stadium's 20th anniversary is just a picture of memories". San Diego Evening Tribune. p. FOOTBALL-8. According to NFL rules, 'If a runner intentionally fumbles forward, it is a forward pass.'
  4. Gutierrez, Paul; Williams, Eric (April 18, 2018). "Holy Roller at 40: How a Raiders' fumble-turned-TD changed the NFL". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 1, 2020. Of course, afterward in the locker room Stabler said he intentionally had fumbled the ball forward, which would have been an incompleted, forward pass under the rule.
  5. Markbreit, Jerry; Steinberg, Alan (1999), Last Call: Memoirs of an NFL Referee, Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing Inc., pp. 183–186, ISBN 1-58382-030-2
  6. "The 'Holy Roller'". profootballhof.com. Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2009-11-30. During the off-season, the league added a provision to the rule book about fumbles after the two-minute warning that allows only the player who fumbled the ball to advance it.
  7. Hyman, Mac (1978-09-15). "Sport Shots". Oakland Post. p. 8. Stabler said he intentionally fumbled, Pete B. said he batted the ball forward, and Dave Casper said that he knew that if he fell on the ball on the one or two yard line the game would have been over, so he kicked it along into the end zone and fell on it.
  8. "IT'S OPEN SEASON ON THE ZEBRAS". Sports Illustrated. October 9, 1978. Retrieved May 4, 2020. Right or wrong, the decision in San Diego has led to the appearance of a funny new T shirt, illustrated with a blindfolded referee signaling a touchdown above the words IMMACULATE DECEPTION.
  9. Distel, Dave (September 8, 1979). "San Diego Sports Scene". The Los Angeles Times. Part III, Page 3. Retrieved May 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Charger fans took to wearing "Immaculate Deception" T-shirts. They pictured a blind-folded referee signaling touchdown.
  10. Inabinett, Mark. "The Snake's most memorable NFL plays: See Ken Stabler trigger 'Sea of Hands,' 'Ghost to the Post,' 'Holy Roller'". AL.com. Retrieved May 4, 2020. That nickname was a play off the 'Immaculate Reception.' Stabler was there for that play, too - on the sidelines when Pittsburgh running back Franco Harris picked a deflected pass out of the air and rambled for the winning touchdown in the Steelers' 13-7 victory over the Raiders in a 1972 AFC playoff game.
  11. Lapointe, Joe (2008-11-16). "The Giants' Fragile Grasp of the Football Is Causing Concern". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-11-30. The league changed the rule the next season, making it illegal for the offense to advance the ball beyond the spot of the fumble in the last two minutes or at any time on fourth down.

Sources
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