September 2, 2020 • 37 mins
The Buccaneers-Rams battle for the Super Bowl is one of the most underrated playoff games of the past 30 years. Strength against strength: The Rams Greatest Show on Turf offense never met a defense that stifled it as much as the Buccaneers did this day. It was shocking, nail-biting, and it came down to the Rams offense making their only play of the day thanks to a wide receiver who hadn't scored a touchdown all season. Oh, and the fun was just starting - as incredible controversy reigned late in the game due to a catch that wasn't (but really was). The NFL - and the wide receiver involved - haven't forgotten it over twenty years later. It's the Buccaneers-Rams 1999 NFC Championship Game: One Play and One Replay.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio
Greetings and Welcome Inside Special Teams with Jason Smith and
(00:23):
Mike Harmon, a podcast that takes a look back at
a specific year and specific special teams in sports and
what they were able to accomplish. Now, Mike and I
are finishing up are I Love the Nineties run right now?
Before we kind of go back some games in the
nineteen eighties, which is a lot of fun because you've
really wanted to see games from earlier than so, hey,
we're gonna give that to you. And technically this game
(00:44):
isn't in the nineties. It takes place on January thousand,
but it was from the NFL season, So I think, Mike,
we're okay with with with having this end the I
Love the Nineties Run. It's a perfect way to end it,
right at the end of the deck aid and and
really a couple of franchises that at the time you're
(01:05):
wondering what kind of runs they were about to go on. Uh,
and certainly anticipation of great thrills, big offense against a
young and and surging defense, so you know which side
breaks and all the big names and the the rises
here So it's a perfect throw in for what we
(01:25):
were talking about because you know, the expectations also after
what was a huge fantasy football season, because let's call
it what it is, was the year where everything changed
in the fantasy world and started really blowing up across
the web. And some of the starters in this game, Uh,
we're huge for fantasy purposes during the regular season, but
(01:47):
if you extended into the playoffs like we do oftentimes, now, uh,
you were a little disappointed. Uh. This was a game
that gets caught between games that were great, and so
you kind of it kind of goes under the radar.
This is one of the best NFC championships we've seen
because it was strength against strength and it was the
Rams eleven six victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that
(02:09):
put the Rams in the Super Bowl. Their victory over
the Titans, which is so well known, but this Rams
Tampa Bay game that can't that that kind of gets
sandwiched between the Music City Miracle and the Super Bowl.
It gets forgotten. But it was such a good game
because it was the strength against strength of the Rams
offense which lit the world on fire. And and we
(02:30):
know the Rams the story of the Rams offense being
born the way it was this year is well known.
Trent Green gets hurt, Kurt Warner and unknown comes in.
Suddenly the Rams can do no wrong. Marshall Fulk becomes
the superstar he was supposed to be with the Colts,
Isaac Bruce, Tory Holt. The Rams offense runs rough shot
over everybody through the season. They were that good. They
(02:52):
were everybody's story. Kurt Warner went from grocery bagger to
NFL m v P. It's like they were the only
story this year. It was the Rams and everything else.
But honestly, what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had started going
here and it really would would end in the crescendo
of a Super Bowl title a couple of years later. Uh,
this was the beginning of Here comes a defensively dominant
(03:13):
team that did everything right in this game except for
one play. You're talking about Derek Brooks and Hardy Nickerson
and Cheeta Hana To and Brad Culpepper, Warren Sapp, Boogra
McFarland before he was on the crane, you know, Randi Barber,
Dexter Jackson, John Lynch before he was a GM. In
the secondary this Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense did everything and
(03:35):
it was irresistible force, immovable object in the NFC title game.
And even though the Rams won this game, I think
still Tampa Bay won the day because clearly their defense
were the ones. You kept the Rams down and in
the end zone one play, one time, that was it.
So who put the more will on the game was
Tampa Bay and the Rams kind of escaped in this one.
(03:56):
Well it's kind of funny because you look at it
a couple of years ago where we had the Patriots
and the Rams right where we're expecting the Sean McVeigh
juggernaut to run at least give what was a very
strong New England d uh fits Instead, well, they more
than held their own. But on the other side, the
(04:16):
the afterthought was the the Rams defense. They only give
up thirteen points. This was a an offense for Tampa
Bay that revolved around Mike all Stotton worked on making plays.
Michaels my my, I mean he was he was a
cult hero when Michael started first got to the National
Football League, but they had problems at quarterback and midway
(04:37):
through the season Trent Dilfor who started and kind of
odd to Trent Dilfer, who started here, did not really
give the team enough at quarterback. He gets hurt, gets
replaced by Shaun King. Shaun King also didn't give Tampa
Bay enough at quarterback, but we'll have more on him
as the podcast goes on. Uh So Dilford loses his
job with King replacing him, and what happens Trent Dilford. Well,
(04:58):
a year later he material lies is in Baltimore where
they only need him to do just enough, and Trent
Dilfer wins the Super Bowl. So for a while, with
listening he does just enough, we can win. And this
is back when you could do that in the NFL,
when you when your quarterbacks sometimes could be a necessary evil.
And we can win a super Bowl with him because look,
(05:18):
the Bucks thought we're going to Shaun King, right they
drafted him. He was a winner at two lane. That
was the whole big thing with boy, he's lost one
game since he was in junior high school. John King's winners.
He wasn't a guy that lit the world on fire,
but he was someone that the Buccaneers said, we can
try hell make just enough plays and we can win
the super Bowl. And and in in the most of
(05:40):
the eighties, nineties, two thousands. If you built a team
around defense in a running game, which is what, let's
face what most of the team did, you didn't have
to go crazy for a quarterback. Now it's completely the opposite.
You could have a quarterback and nothing else and you're
absolutely fine. But this was really this run here the
early two thousand's was the last time we kind of
saw a team say all right, let's get by with
(06:01):
this guy. Everything else is there loaded. All you gotta
do is not screwed up, and we can win the
Super Bowl. Yeah, don't make mistakes, don't put the ball
in their hands. Right, is if you got a to
two man running game as we did here, and and
obviously the defense you mentioned all the star power, they're right,
guys that are in the Hall of Fame, guys that
are in heavy consideration, and guys that get thanked in
all sorts of speeches. Just a star studded cast you
(06:24):
go through the coaching staff, I mean, just ridiculously loaded
with talent. But but to your point, yeah, I mean
it was three yards and a clouded dust, and when
you threw the ball it was kind of a big deal.
I mean, we go back in the the annals of
NFL history and you look at touchdown to interception ratio.
That didn't matter either completion percentage. You're the g twenty
(06:48):
times a game. You're putting the ball up and you
were trying to make plays. Otherwise, you ran the ball,
ground clock and let your defense make plays. I mean,
that's why the Bears. Most people don't recognize that the
second highest scoring team in the league was all about
the run game and defense, or so they would have
you believe, but it made it makes its way into history.
(07:11):
You look at this Buccaneers team, I mean, Gilford was what,
uh yards, eleven and eleven intense starts before giving way
to Shaun King. That is the dictionary definition of mediocre.
Shaun King four and one record right, five years completion
which at the time pretty good. Uh seven touchdowns, four picks,
(07:34):
not exactly world beating, and a total of eight seventy
five yards in those six games. Five starts not exactly
taking to the air unless absolutely necessary. I mean, we
the way we look at quarterbacking and building your play
charts so much different. Uh over with a couple of decades.
(07:56):
I mean, it's hard to believe this is just twenty
years ago, and how different the game looks. So it's
the Rams and the Buccaneers, a kickoff start time of
four two pm local time at the t w A Dome,
a game that had the most unlikeliest of heroes and
controversy that still rains even today. That's coming up next
as we get into the NFC Championship game between the
(08:19):
Rams and the Buccaneers that, yes, it took place in
two thousand, but it's still of the nineties. That's coming
up next right here on special teams. What kind of
(08:43):
game were we going to see? Was it gonna be
the Rams and their offense getting out big. Was it
gonna be the Buccaneers and their defense holding the Rams down?
It was the ladder. This game begins in St. Louis,
the defenses dominating the day. Kurt Warner's first pass of
the nf C Championship is picked off and Tampa Bay
kicks a field goal. Martina Grammatica back when he was
(09:05):
automatica boots went in from twenty five yards out. It's
a three nothing lead, uh for Tampa Bay. And it
was this kind of game from then on out. Jeff
Wilkins would kick a field goal to make it three three,
and then the Rams would take the lead in the
second quarter. One of the big mistakes that Shaun King
(09:26):
made today and boy, you look at what happened in
this game and Shaun King, if he just made one play,
it would have been a difference for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But in the second quarter of of a game that's
still three three, a bad snap goes over his head.
King bats it out of the end zone, but St.
Louis gets a safety. They lead five three at halftime.
(09:47):
King had a horrendous game. He had huge turnovers in
both halves, and this snap goes over his head, and
so you have a five three game at halftime. Despite
the fact you were losing, if you were Tampa Bay,
you still felt pretty good at Like, Okay, St. Louis
hasn't made any plays in the first half. Yes we're down,
but all we gotta do is do a little bit
because they have no answer for us on offense. Well,
(10:09):
but that's the thing though. All it takes is one slip,
one play, and how explosive they were either the out
of the backfield with a quick screen pass, which is
what that that first passed I must have gone back
in the video. Jason watched that like nine times, going
what the hell was Kurt Warner doing? One of the
most efficient quarterbacks we've ever seen? All right, except the
(10:31):
thumb injury, and obviously there's some hiccups specifically in that
time with the Giants, but the the that first pass,
like you're throwing it into an offensive and defensive lineman.
You can't see falls out of the backfield at all
as you roll that up, but you have the snap
over your head, and yeah, while you're confident saying we
(10:53):
we've limited them, it's still the stress of all right,
one play is deciding this because you've seen nothing from
your offense that's getting it done either. It's that battle
of wills, the battle of nerves, and just trying not
to screw up. Think of the pressure in that defensive
back seven on every play, especially when you start looking
(11:15):
at pass interference calls that could change everything on a dime.
And you had two of the best in the game
going out there that certainly they drew their share of
penalties throughout that year and throughout their careers. So think
about one little grab, one little clutch, nothing you can
do that more then than you can in today's NFL,
(11:35):
but that that was going to potentially be the difference,
and that's gotta be just absolutely maddening that it would
come down to something like that. This game comes down
to one play. The Rams made one play all day.
I mean, this offense, as high powered as it was,
it made one play all day. Kurt Warner as bad
a game as Shaun King had. Kurt Warner had a
(11:57):
horrible game. He threw three picks and the Rams were
getting dominated. Unlike any game all season. If you remember this,
this run the Rams is nobody could stop them. This
was boy every week it was thirty forty points. Who
you were starting everybody in fantasy I'm gonna I'm gonna
start Robert Holcom in Fantasy. This week was maybe he runs,
he gets a touchdown at some point. All right, they're
(12:18):
gonna get some trash time at the end, and he's
gonna get a you know, seven or eight carries, Like
when you would start guys like Lincoln Coleman from the Cowboys,
when in like the mid nineties, when you knew, well,
Emmet's gonna be done in the middle of the third
quarter and Coleman's gonna get like twenty rush opportunity. I'm
gonna start him in fantasy, but this was what it was.
The Rams made zero plays all day. They were down
(12:39):
six five in the fourth quarter after Tampa Bay kicks
the field goal, and watching this game, I remember thinking
they're gonna win this game six five. The NFC Championship
game is gonna be six five Tampa Bay. And then St.
Louis makes the big play. Dre Bligh picks off Shaun
King and they have the ball at midfield, and this
is where St. Louis All fence makes its only play
(13:01):
of the day, and it's the most unlikeliest of players.
At the thirty yard line, Kurt Warner is blitzed and
he throws up a jump ball to the corner of
the end zone to Ricky Prole, not to Tory Holt,
not to Isaac Bruce. This is Ricky Prole, who had
his game of games six catches for a hundred yards.
(13:23):
And really, the Rams dynasty, the many dynasty they had,
may never have gotten off the ground if Ricky Prole
doesn't make this play. Of all the stars of every
big play they made, this might be the biggest of St.
Louis's run. He's got one on one coverage with Brian
Kelly and Warner just throws it up and Ricky Prole,
who was underrated for his entire career. Ricky Prole was
(13:46):
so money. He watched every he was so good. Oh
my good. If he had played on winning teams for
the most part, but he doesn't hit the Rams until
later on in his career. Prole could tell where the
ball was coming and he does a great job shielding
Brian Kelly, catches the ball, crosses the goal line, touchdown,
and it's a Rams lead. It's the only play they made.
(14:09):
One play. Even Warren Sapp after the game said we
held them down the entire day. They made one play
and that was enough, which tells you where the Tampa
Bay offense was. But one play, that's all it was.
Everything else was we can't do and we can't do anything.
We're relying on turnovers and field position. One play and
that goes into the end zone for a touchdown. And
it really was insane. This play, Donnie Abraham blitzes, which
(14:32):
means you have Ricky Prol the one on one coverage.
He nearly gets there. But Orlando Pace, one of the
greatest offensive linemen of all time slides over and blocks him.
John Lynch doesn't have enough. He can't make up the
pay the time to get there and and in time
to help. So this is how Prole winds up catching
it one on one his first touchdown of the season.
(14:53):
Ricky Prole's first touchdown of the season is the biggest
play for the Rams in the NFC Championship game. Yeah,
he just down the uh the drive charts. You got
that field goal early? Great? Right, six plays all of
thirteen yards. Field goal, punt, fumble, slash safety is how
it's logged. Punt punt interception, field goal punt, punt interception,
(15:18):
turnover on downs. That's like, yeah, no, that's that's about it. Right.
So when you add up all the yardage, I mean,
the first two drives are negated by the snap over
the head done. I mean we're talking about a hundred
forty yards or thereabouts in total offense when you get
down to it. Inability to run the ball really established
(15:39):
much of anything here. All Stott and Done can combine
for seventy four yards on the ground on twenty one carries.
And yes, Ricky Prole, who played the National Football League
for a total of just what seventeen years. That sounds
about right. I mean, because he had one big year
with the Prors right before he went to Louis uh
(16:01):
seven or fifty three yards career best seven touchdowns for
the Bears, and that ends up in St. Louis, Carolina, Indianapolis,
Arizona slash Phoenix. Seattle. Man had some well traveled career
and a lot of opportunity. Uh. He said after the game,
after this game that people think there's a hundred Ricky
(16:22):
Pearls out there that you can get anybody you want to.
There's only one Ricky Prole and he was that had
he played on better team. Because in the early nineties
you play in the Cardinals, you know, and then you
get to Seattle. So, as you said, all throughout the
league he was really solid. He was a sixty catch
a year guy. This is back when teams still didn't
throw the ball quite as much as they did now,
where sixty catches back then translates to eight five catches now,
(16:46):
I would say, I mean, he's your PPR monster. Yes,
that's exactly exactly, that's exactly where because changed, ye, yes,
he he would have been that guy. He's he's a
he's the quintessential number three receiver. You can put him outside,
you put him in the slide, you put him all
over the place, and he would produce, and he produced
everywhere he was. Look the guy, like he said, the
(17:06):
guy was in the career in the NFL from until
two thousand and six for a reason and run clubhouse
guy quarterbacks. Well but it is though. It's like you
bring if you're gonna move that off and it's the alright,
this guy picks things up fast, he's not gonna cause
any problems, and he's gonna teach you how to be
(17:26):
a professional. This was his game, this was his moment.
This was the Ricky Prole moment. But still there was
a little bit of work left to be done. Because
Ricky Pearl's touchdown gives the St. Louis Rams the eleven
six lead, there is still four forty four left to go.
And if you're thinking at some point the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers offense is gonna have one drive, this is gonna
(17:47):
be that time. Because as much as we talk about
the Rams at nine having one play, this offense, the
Bucks offense was was was abysmal. But you kind of
expect that from them, because this is not how they
do business. But you would expect more than six points
out of them, and that one drive's gotta happen. This
is gonna be it. Now with everything at stake, Tampa
Bay gets the football back and they start getting down
(18:10):
the field. They drive into St. Louis territory and there's
a second and twenty three play which becomes the play
of the game, and we had a rule made about
it because of this play. Sean King completes a thirteen
yard past a Burdah Manual al right, Burda Manuel catches
the ball. Tampa Bay calls a time out. They have
the ball at the twenty yard line, where it's gonna
(18:32):
be third and ten. So Emmanuel comes up with it.
It's it's a throw, it's it's it's near to the ground,
but Emmanual catches it, rolls over, is touched, booms down,
and Tampa Bay calls time out. So the ball the
twenty yard line, third and ten, and the broadcast is saying,
all right, now, what kind of player you're gonna have.
You have two chances, obviously, and then even the play
by play announcers are talking about it and they're going,
(18:57):
I don't know their reviewing this. Their reviewing this there.
You know, you listen to the Rams. Guys, listen to
Rams played by play, their reviewing. I don't know why
they're Tampa Bay, same thing there. I don't know why
they're reviewing this. This is a catch by burnam manual,
and so the officials during the Tampa Bay time out,
which if head coach Tony Dungee could do it over again,
he would probably not have called time out because nobody
(19:18):
would have questioned it. But because they called time out
to try to figure things out, the officials review it.
This has been the you know, the new replay rule
had been in effect now and they come out and
say the ball hit the ground, the passes incomplete. You
can watch this replay a thousand times and it really
takes an eye to see maybe the point of the
(19:40):
football touched the ground. But in thousand, like in in
in two thousand, twenty and and and two thousand eighteen,
I can see where, Okay, maybe this isn't a catch
because they want to get so specific on controlling the
ball and everything else. But in two thousand, this is
a catch. Didn't Nobody was even questioning that this was
(20:01):
a catch. He had control of the ball, he had
his hand under the ball. He rolled over, but he
had the ball in his possession the entire time. There
was no time where he had the football maybe just
held the bottom half of it. He had his hand
over it and under it the whole time. I mean,
that's a catch. There was no way it wasn't a catch.
It was weird. It was reviewed and when it comes
back and they say pass in complete. So now it's
(20:24):
third and twenty three. This is one of those moments
where I said, boy, the NFL could be fixed. I mean, boy,
the NFL could be fixed. Because do you want Tampa
Bay in their crappy offense in the Super Bowl or
do you want the greatest show on turf? I mean
there was there's moments where I go, boy, if the
NFL was fixed. This is that moment. Such a bad call,
so bad. I mean, this is the rewatching this as
(20:49):
as we were prepping and even running it back. Now
as we're talking, I just started shaking my heads and
I want to throw a pencil at the screen, maybe
something a little heavier without breaking my computer. It's it's
just nine out of a hundred times that's a catch.
I think it's a catch a hundred times out of
a hundred times. I don't know. I don't know what
they saw. There's always gonna be that one guy. So
(21:12):
what did you see that made him go look at this?
The rams didn't yell you gotta look at this. Nobody
was yelling you gotta look at this. Nobody was nobody,
nobody was rolled through. Yeah, I mean there there didn't
appear to be anything controversy about it. It's catch, a bad,
badly miscall. And we could have had I mean, they
still had to finish the drive. Let's call it what
(21:34):
it is. And I don't have a lot of faith
that they were going to finish it. No, but I
would have went from seeing that finished. You went from
third and ten now it's third and three and and
what happened to you? Took the air out of the
balloon for the bucks where things were getting really tight,
and t w a don't boy, third and ten at
the twenty yard line. Any play could get you in
the end zone because now you're within twenty yards. Even
(21:54):
Sean Kin can throw the ball twenty yards as limited
as he was off. Come on, now, no, No, I
met him a couple of times. He's a really scot.
I never brought the game up though I met him
a couple of times at ESPN. Really nice guy always,
you know from the interactions I had with him. Never
brought this game up. I'm like, I can't bring this
game up. Still, never understand though he starts starts all
of the two thousand season, and then he would only
(22:15):
go on to appear in another twelve NFL games. Yeah,
uh so Shaun King Now who had two chances too
incomplete passes Later, the game is over, the Rams kneel
on the football and they go to the Super Bowl
with an eleven to six victory. The stats for this
game so incredibly ugly. Warner through for two fifty eight,
(22:35):
one touchdown but three picks. Marshall Falk ran for forty
four yards. Ricky Pearl had the big stay the only
guy who had a big stat line six for a
hundred and a touchdown. That's it. Everybody else it was,
oh man, really all start ran for thirty nine yards,
Work Done ran for thirty five. Shaun King through for
one sixty three and two picks. I mean, nobody had
(22:56):
a good game stat wise, except for Ricky Prole six
catches for a hundred yards in the touchdown. You could well,
if it wasn't for the burn of manual play, you
would say it's the Ricky Pearl game. But as we're
gonna hear coming up, it really turns into the burn
a manual rule. But that was the only Ricky Prole
the game. This is my moment and that I looked
back at this game. I would watch this game every
day if I was him. Yea touchdown is my day. Well,
(23:19):
and that was a pretty catch. And and just to
put a period at the end of the sentence for
Kurt Warner's performance, he was awful all day, right. The
three interceptions were terrible, a couple others that probably should
have been picked. But that touchdown past to Ricky Pearle,
I don't think you can lay it, I mean, any
other any better. The underarmed soft toss to try to
(23:40):
find this spot. You can't throw a ball any better
than he did, and Prole coming down with it, making
sure he got his feet down in the corner right
along the chalk. I mean, just an amazing run and
you know I just have to celebrate. Also, az Zer
Hakim just because we talked about the rest of these guys.
Uh So let's get of Oz is here at Keem
(24:02):
as well. So the game that would have been and
probably is, the Ricky Prole game for the Rams turned
into the Bird of Manual rule and the Bird of
Manual game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as it was ruled.
He did not come up with that. The controversy was
just beginning. Way do we tell you coming up next
about Tony Dungee and the aftermath of this game. As
(24:23):
the Rams went to the Super Bowl and the Bucks
went home, a special teams with Jason Smith and Mike
Armit with everybody shaking their head over the bird of
(24:48):
manual play that could have turned the NFC Championship game
on its ear. Tony Dungee, head coach of the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers, did not see the replay of the Bird
of manual play until ill the next day. He's answering
questions in the post game. Yeah, I don't know, yeah,
I look like a catch, all these things. Then he
sees the replay and he is incensed. He calls the
(25:10):
NFL offices and he said, now we have to take
back every catch Chris Carter ever had in his career.
If you're gonna take this catch back, all those Chris
Carter catches back, he was hot and I can't say
I blame him because this was a catch. And because
of this, the NFL looks into the rule and because
of that play, they clarified it for the next season
(25:31):
that if you if you have control of the ball
under it you're doing, that's a catch. They called it
the bird of manual rule. Didn't help Tampa Bay now,
But but the fact that you have to be told, oh, yeah,
that should have been a catch, And it's then why
wasn't that a catch? Again? I go back to boy,
if there were times I felt the NFL was fixed,
it's for that moment in time right there. So the
bird of manual rule comes about because of this play,
(25:54):
and Tony Dungee hadn't seen it. And look, is it
great to get an apology from the NFL. Know, but
at least you get the apology. Uh. And and they
and they called you back. It's like you, well, we
broke up, but at least I got to, you know,
tell the other person, give them a piece of my
mind and say what they did. And what I hope
happens to them on their way. We're still broken up,
but at least I got to talk to them before
(26:14):
and say that, so I feel good. I got that
off my chest. Well you gotta get that off your chest. Yeah,
I mean. And and for Tony Dungee, it's funny in
the immediate after math, you see his salt nous uh.
You see herm Edwards. You see all the guys on
the sideline looking around on because there they know one
uh might have gotten away right there. And to take
(26:35):
the time. I mean, now it's the I didn't see it,
but they're still seething because someone's gotten in their ear.
The fact that it took that extra time to go
over the top is kind of interesting to me. Um.
But change comes in in strange forms, especially in the NFL.
I mean, if we've learned anything, it takes a big
play on a huge stage to usually get the powers
(26:59):
that be to at least take a look at it.
They don't always move so swiftly. So the fact that
this was immediately put into place, Man, they know they
screwed this up. I'd love to see the letter of
apology that went with it. Well, you want to know
the best part of this story because this affects things
now here in because Bird of Manual is on Twitter,
all right, he's out and you know, tweets about a
(27:20):
lot of things. And and he you know, he does
stuck with the XFL with the Roughnecks, and uh, his
Twitter handle is the Bird of Manual Rule. Oh, that's
his Twitter handle is the Bird of Manual Rule. And
I'm reading you from his Twitter profile it says husband
Dada five Houston Roughnecks inspiration behind NFL is the Bird
of Manual catch Rule. So at least he's able to
(27:42):
understand it. All right, this is my legacy. And the
picture he has on Twitter, his background page, he's got
he's got a profile picture of himself. But the big
picture behind you Twitter is him making that catch. That's good.
That's good. He never let him forget. It's so awesome.
It's me. Look, I got my hands under the ball
and making the catch. It's that works. I did it.
(28:05):
I made the play. Oh I love that. You gotta
have a sense of humor about it. But also it's
still flipping the bird back of the National Football League
because you would have been at least you could have
played the part of a hero again who that hell
knows how that drive ends if it's continues without that hiccup.
(28:25):
But uh yeah, Burna Manuel having some fun with it.
I dig that. So for both of these teams, they
go in different directions, although for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
it's a different direction to get to the same spot.
The Rams win the Super Bowls we talked about and
most talked about Super Bowl, one of the most talked
about Super Bowls we've seen in the past thirty years.
Tampa Bay begins their journey to what would end in
(28:46):
a Super Bowl victory in two thousand and three on
the backs of many of these defensive players that vault
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a win over the Oakland Raiders.
Shaun King was not the starting quarterback. He played one
full season as started the following year in two thousand.
He throws eighteen touchdowns thirteen picks, doesn't make it to
(29:07):
three thousand yards he has. Tampa Bay wins ten games,
but the Bucks soon realized we need something else, so
they wind up replacing him with Brad Johnson, who comes
in at the end, and he was a guy that
made a few more places, not like Brad Johnson was incredible.
His reputation was all he does is win. But Brad
Johnson certainly made enough plays, brought you that veteran leadership,
(29:29):
and it was behind Brad Johnson that Tampa Bay wound
up winning the Super Bowl a couple of years later. Uh,
Shaun King stayed in the league until two thousand and
four and that was it. He was out of the
NFL at the age of twenty seven. When he came
in a Tampa Bay. All the promotion that he had,
he's gonna win, He's gonna be a guy to grow
into the job. Did he get the job a little
(29:49):
too early? Probably, but because of Dilford's injury, you have
to go there, and maybe things would have turned out
differently for Shaun King. But still in the end, he
was a limited quarterback. Tampa Bay went to a quarterback
who wasn't quite as limited, and that's what they wanted.
Went in the Super Bowl behind Well still riding you
know that backfield and those that that monster's defense. Again.
(30:10):
You you listed all the names off the top as
we started this podcast. I mean, all of those guys
became heroes and you saw the coaching Tree and the
pedigree that that rolled through. Obviously a different headman by
time it went through, but you know, building that foundation.
Brad Johnson, you know, he's a guy eats him. It's Dilford.
(30:33):
You've got a few of those guys like you know,
they won super Bowls. And it's not to be not
a pejorative, it's just they weren't the focus of the team,
whereas we're so conditioned. I think, at least for the
last the Tom Brady here and let's call it that way,
that the quarterbacks or everything going back to Elway, going
through Brady and Peyton, Manning and and on it it's
(30:55):
always been about the quarterback. Yeah, you've got a hiccup
here and there where other guys rose up and had
monster games, but you know, usually it's the the big
arm of the QB, just like the driving force of
marketing and media for the NFL. So there it is.
The St. Louis Rams win the NFC title game eleven
(31:16):
six in a defensive struggle. You watch the Buccaneers defense
make plays the entire game. You watch the Rams defense
make plays, and as I said in the beginning, the
Rams won the game, but the Bucks defense the way
they played, shutting down the greatest show on turf. Unlike
we had seen. St. Louis gets shut down. Even when
they would lose in the Super Bowl and lose games,
(31:37):
their offense still would put points up. This was such
a one moment in time. Look at what Tampa Bay
did to them, and just one more play And sometimes
that's the difference, Mike, when you say, boy, they made
one more play than we did. And that is the
answer of this game. The St. Louis Rams made one
play on offense. That was it. Had the Buccaneers made
one play on offense, they win the game, things go differently.
(32:00):
But they made zero plays on offense and and made
a mistaken and gave the Rams two points on a
safety because of a bad snap when clearly, well even
if the bird of manual catch doesn't happen, maybe Tampa
Bay kicks a field goal and we at least go
to overtime and something different. One play, the St. Louis
Rams made one play on offense. Tampa Bay made zero,
(32:20):
and that's why the Rams go on to win the
Super Bowl. Yeah, they got the moral victory. I'll what
they did. They held them. They held them to eleven
points and Dick Formila saying, yeah, that's goad. You take
the moral victory. I'll take the Super Bowl. That's just
one of those strange, strange games, right, because Kurt Warner
did everything he could to hand it over except for
one play, but Shaun Kang and that offense unable to
(32:45):
really do much and and the first three points were
a gift, right. I mean, so so you go through
uh an absolute zero but a fun game pillar to
post because anytime you know we're still in winning time
within seven, you're feeling pretty good at about where you're
at as a league and certainly as a fan of
the game. All Right, it's not about somewhere are they? Now?
(33:06):
Where are some of the players from this NFC title game? Well,
why don't we start with Shaun King. We've talked about
him a lot. Uh. He is the running backs coach
for the South Florida Bulls uh and he's been on
the staff a few years. He was the recruiter of
the Year for the American Athletic Conference back in twenty seventeen. Uh.
You got Jacas Green. He's coaching at Manatee High School.
(33:28):
There's a lot of coaching. Wait, He coaches Manatees. They
play football underwater. Now that I'd like to say, well,
you know, I'd really like to see that he's working
up a great act. But uh, really, I could have
listed about thirty five guys that are coaching or administrators
at various high schools. Jacoba is Green the most targeted
receiver in this game by Shaun King. They threw to
(33:49):
him seven times. He caught four balls for fifty nine yards.
He was the leading wide receiver on the day for
Tampa Bay. Yeah. So he just enjoined Manatee High School
and I'll have you know he was a two time
matten Bull champion, So he gets that extra poem. Alright, Well,
I tell you that's a lot of points right there. Well,
but that's why you get into the where are they now?
You gotta have something special going on. Cheetahata to Uh.
(34:11):
He is part of a talent agency called Magellan Entertainment.
They represent he's still alive. Well, I mean someone's got
to look out for the legacy and the no well,
I mean the explorers. You know, nowadays you gotta go
and do deep dives into everything, but Magellan Entertainment. I
mean he navigated the Earth for the first time, Magellan.
(34:32):
This is navigating the globe to find the best talent
and musicians, actors, models, you name it, but they represent you,
saying both, Okay, well, hey, they clearly they know the
talent when they see it. And you can make him
a wide receiver and have him cover punch. That's what
I would do for you, saying about that next level
cover kickoffs, puns and a wide receiver. Adam Timmerman, he's
(34:53):
back in Cherokee, Iowa as part of Icon Agriculture and Turf.
That's it's a John Dear dealer, nice driving the base,
the big stuff in the big machinery. And finally, Brad
Culpepper Culpepper Curling Law firm. And he's also been on
Survivor multiple times, unique distinction. He and his wife both
(35:18):
were runners up in different seasons. Wow, I did not
know that. I should have known that, Brad multiple times.
I should have known that. Okay, all right? And I
remember when they cut Brad Culpepper after the season. It was,
oh my god, Brad Culpepper, he's gonna be great. Now
another couple of years somewhere he goes to your bears
and he plays one year and then that was it
(35:38):
from Brad Culpepper. Uh that also that also is it?
For us here on Special Teams Jason Smith, Mike Carmen.
For this week, we finished How I Love the Nineties run.
We get into the eighties next week with some huge games,
some huge memories. We can't wait to bring your way.
If you have ideas for future Special Teams podcast, hit
us up on Twitter at how out of Fresca Mike
(36:01):
and Swollen Dumb. We're starting to take some of your recommendations. Hey,
you wanted to get to the eighties, We're gonna get
into the eighties now, which is gonna be a real
fun decade and stuff to go through. Our show has
heard five days a week on Fox Sports Radio Monday
through Friday, ten pm to two am on the East Coast,
seven to eleven on the West Coast. We'll talk to
you next week with more Special Teams. Before you go,
(36:32):
rate and review the show. Whether you're listening on I
Heart Radio, I Heart Radio, apps, Apple, whatever it is,
give us a rate, tell us you like it. We
will love you forever and ever and ever. Special Teams
(36:55):
is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
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Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio
Greetings and Welcome Inside Special Teams with Jason Smith and
(00:23):
Mike Harmon, a podcast that takes a look back at
a specific year and specific special teams in sports and
what they were able to accomplish. Now, Mike and I
are finishing up are I Love the Nineties run right now?
Before we kind of go back some games in the
nineteen eighties, which is a lot of fun because you've
really wanted to see games from earlier than so, hey,
we're gonna give that to you. And technically this game
(00:44):
isn't in the nineties. It takes place on January thousand,
but it was from the NFL season, So I think, Mike,
we're okay with with with having this end the I
Love the Nineties Run. It's a perfect way to end it,
right at the end of the deck aid and and
really a couple of franchises that at the time you're
(01:05):
wondering what kind of runs they were about to go on. Uh,
and certainly anticipation of great thrills, big offense against a
young and and surging defense, so you know which side
breaks and all the big names and the the rises
here So it's a perfect throw in for what we
(01:25):
were talking about because you know, the expectations also after
what was a huge fantasy football season, because let's call
it what it is, was the year where everything changed
in the fantasy world and started really blowing up across
the web. And some of the starters in this game, Uh,
we're huge for fantasy purposes during the regular season, but
(01:47):
if you extended into the playoffs like we do oftentimes, now, uh,
you were a little disappointed. Uh. This was a game
that gets caught between games that were great, and so
you kind of it kind of goes under the radar.
This is one of the best NFC championships we've seen
because it was strength against strength and it was the
Rams eleven six victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that
(02:09):
put the Rams in the Super Bowl. Their victory over
the Titans, which is so well known, but this Rams
Tampa Bay game that can't that that kind of gets
sandwiched between the Music City Miracle and the Super Bowl.
It gets forgotten. But it was such a good game
because it was the strength against strength of the Rams
offense which lit the world on fire. And and we
(02:30):
know the Rams the story of the Rams offense being
born the way it was this year is well known.
Trent Green gets hurt, Kurt Warner and unknown comes in.
Suddenly the Rams can do no wrong. Marshall Fulk becomes
the superstar he was supposed to be with the Colts,
Isaac Bruce, Tory Holt. The Rams offense runs rough shot
over everybody through the season. They were that good. They
(02:52):
were everybody's story. Kurt Warner went from grocery bagger to
NFL m v P. It's like they were the only
story this year. It was the Rams and everything else.
But honestly, what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had started going
here and it really would would end in the crescendo
of a Super Bowl title a couple of years later. Uh,
this was the beginning of Here comes a defensively dominant
(03:13):
team that did everything right in this game except for
one play. You're talking about Derek Brooks and Hardy Nickerson
and Cheeta Hana To and Brad Culpepper, Warren Sapp, Boogra
McFarland before he was on the crane, you know, Randi Barber,
Dexter Jackson, John Lynch before he was a GM. In
the secondary this Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense did everything and
(03:35):
it was irresistible force, immovable object in the NFC title game.
And even though the Rams won this game, I think
still Tampa Bay won the day because clearly their defense
were the ones. You kept the Rams down and in
the end zone one play, one time, that was it.
So who put the more will on the game was
Tampa Bay and the Rams kind of escaped in this one.
(03:56):
Well it's kind of funny because you look at it
a couple of years ago where we had the Patriots
and the Rams right where we're expecting the Sean McVeigh
juggernaut to run at least give what was a very
strong New England d uh fits Instead, well, they more
than held their own. But on the other side, the
(04:16):
the afterthought was the the Rams defense. They only give
up thirteen points. This was a an offense for Tampa
Bay that revolved around Mike all Stotton worked on making plays.
Michaels my my, I mean he was he was a
cult hero when Michael started first got to the National
Football League, but they had problems at quarterback and midway
(04:37):
through the season Trent Dilfor who started and kind of
odd to Trent Dilfer, who started here, did not really
give the team enough at quarterback. He gets hurt, gets
replaced by Shaun King. Shaun King also didn't give Tampa
Bay enough at quarterback, but we'll have more on him
as the podcast goes on. Uh So Dilford loses his
job with King replacing him, and what happens Trent Dilford. Well,
(04:58):
a year later he material lies is in Baltimore where
they only need him to do just enough, and Trent
Dilfer wins the Super Bowl. So for a while, with
listening he does just enough, we can win. And this
is back when you could do that in the NFL,
when you when your quarterbacks sometimes could be a necessary evil.
And we can win a super Bowl with him because look,
(05:18):
the Bucks thought we're going to Shaun King, right they
drafted him. He was a winner at two lane. That
was the whole big thing with boy, he's lost one
game since he was in junior high school. John King's winners.
He wasn't a guy that lit the world on fire,
but he was someone that the Buccaneers said, we can
try hell make just enough plays and we can win
the super Bowl. And and in in the most of
(05:40):
the eighties, nineties, two thousands. If you built a team
around defense in a running game, which is what, let's
face what most of the team did, you didn't have
to go crazy for a quarterback. Now it's completely the opposite.
You could have a quarterback and nothing else and you're
absolutely fine. But this was really this run here the
early two thousand's was the last time we kind of
saw a team say all right, let's get by with
(06:01):
this guy. Everything else is there loaded. All you gotta
do is not screwed up, and we can win the
Super Bowl. Yeah, don't make mistakes, don't put the ball
in their hands. Right, is if you got a to
two man running game as we did here, and and
obviously the defense you mentioned all the star power, they're right,
guys that are in the Hall of Fame, guys that
are in heavy consideration, and guys that get thanked in
all sorts of speeches. Just a star studded cast you
(06:24):
go through the coaching staff, I mean, just ridiculously loaded
with talent. But but to your point, yeah, I mean
it was three yards and a clouded dust, and when
you threw the ball it was kind of a big deal.
I mean, we go back in the the annals of
NFL history and you look at touchdown to interception ratio.
That didn't matter either completion percentage. You're the g twenty
(06:48):
times a game. You're putting the ball up and you
were trying to make plays. Otherwise, you ran the ball,
ground clock and let your defense make plays. I mean,
that's why the Bears. Most people don't recognize that the
second highest scoring team in the league was all about
the run game and defense, or so they would have
you believe, but it made it makes its way into history.
(07:11):
You look at this Buccaneers team, I mean, Gilford was what,
uh yards, eleven and eleven intense starts before giving way
to Shaun King. That is the dictionary definition of mediocre.
Shaun King four and one record right, five years completion
which at the time pretty good. Uh seven touchdowns, four picks,
(07:34):
not exactly world beating, and a total of eight seventy
five yards in those six games. Five starts not exactly
taking to the air unless absolutely necessary. I mean, we
the way we look at quarterbacking and building your play
charts so much different. Uh over with a couple of decades.
(07:56):
I mean, it's hard to believe this is just twenty
years ago, and how different the game looks. So it's
the Rams and the Buccaneers, a kickoff start time of
four two pm local time at the t w A Dome,
a game that had the most unlikeliest of heroes and
controversy that still rains even today. That's coming up next
as we get into the NFC Championship game between the
(08:19):
Rams and the Buccaneers that, yes, it took place in
two thousand, but it's still of the nineties. That's coming
up next right here on special teams. What kind of
(08:43):
game were we going to see? Was it gonna be
the Rams and their offense getting out big. Was it
gonna be the Buccaneers and their defense holding the Rams down?
It was the ladder. This game begins in St. Louis,
the defenses dominating the day. Kurt Warner's first pass of
the nf C Championship is picked off and Tampa Bay
kicks a field goal. Martina Grammatica back when he was
(09:05):
automatica boots went in from twenty five yards out. It's
a three nothing lead, uh for Tampa Bay. And it
was this kind of game from then on out. Jeff
Wilkins would kick a field goal to make it three three,
and then the Rams would take the lead in the
second quarter. One of the big mistakes that Shaun King
(09:26):
made today and boy, you look at what happened in
this game and Shaun King, if he just made one play,
it would have been a difference for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But in the second quarter of of a game that's
still three three, a bad snap goes over his head.
King bats it out of the end zone, but St.
Louis gets a safety. They lead five three at halftime.
(09:47):
King had a horrendous game. He had huge turnovers in
both halves, and this snap goes over his head, and
so you have a five three game at halftime. Despite
the fact you were losing, if you were Tampa Bay,
you still felt pretty good at Like, Okay, St. Louis
hasn't made any plays in the first half. Yes we're down,
but all we gotta do is do a little bit
because they have no answer for us on offense. Well,
(10:09):
but that's the thing though. All it takes is one slip,
one play, and how explosive they were either the out
of the backfield with a quick screen pass, which is
what that that first passed I must have gone back
in the video. Jason watched that like nine times, going
what the hell was Kurt Warner doing? One of the
most efficient quarterbacks we've ever seen? All right, except the
(10:31):
thumb injury, and obviously there's some hiccups specifically in that
time with the Giants, but the the that first pass,
like you're throwing it into an offensive and defensive lineman.
You can't see falls out of the backfield at all
as you roll that up, but you have the snap
over your head, and yeah, while you're confident saying we
(10:53):
we've limited them, it's still the stress of all right,
one play is deciding this because you've seen nothing from
your offense that's getting it done either. It's that battle
of wills, the battle of nerves, and just trying not
to screw up. Think of the pressure in that defensive
back seven on every play, especially when you start looking
(11:15):
at pass interference calls that could change everything on a dime.
And you had two of the best in the game
going out there that certainly they drew their share of
penalties throughout that year and throughout their careers. So think
about one little grab, one little clutch, nothing you can
do that more then than you can in today's NFL,
(11:35):
but that that was going to potentially be the difference,
and that's gotta be just absolutely maddening that it would
come down to something like that. This game comes down
to one play. The Rams made one play all day.
I mean, this offense, as high powered as it was,
it made one play all day. Kurt Warner as bad
a game as Shaun King had. Kurt Warner had a
(11:57):
horrible game. He threw three picks and the Rams were
getting dominated. Unlike any game all season. If you remember this,
this run the Rams is nobody could stop them. This
was boy every week it was thirty forty points. Who
you were starting everybody in fantasy I'm gonna I'm gonna
start Robert Holcom in Fantasy. This week was maybe he runs,
he gets a touchdown at some point. All right, they're
(12:18):
gonna get some trash time at the end, and he's
gonna get a you know, seven or eight carries, Like
when you would start guys like Lincoln Coleman from the Cowboys,
when in like the mid nineties, when you knew, well,
Emmet's gonna be done in the middle of the third
quarter and Coleman's gonna get like twenty rush opportunity. I'm
gonna start him in fantasy, but this was what it was.
The Rams made zero plays all day. They were down
(12:39):
six five in the fourth quarter after Tampa Bay kicks
the field goal, and watching this game, I remember thinking
they're gonna win this game six five. The NFC Championship
game is gonna be six five Tampa Bay. And then St.
Louis makes the big play. Dre Bligh picks off Shaun
King and they have the ball at midfield, and this
is where St. Louis All fence makes its only play
(13:01):
of the day, and it's the most unlikeliest of players.
At the thirty yard line, Kurt Warner is blitzed and
he throws up a jump ball to the corner of
the end zone to Ricky Prole, not to Tory Holt,
not to Isaac Bruce. This is Ricky Prole, who had
his game of games six catches for a hundred yards.
(13:23):
And really, the Rams dynasty, the many dynasty they had,
may never have gotten off the ground if Ricky Prole
doesn't make this play. Of all the stars of every
big play they made, this might be the biggest of St.
Louis's run. He's got one on one coverage with Brian
Kelly and Warner just throws it up and Ricky Prole,
who was underrated for his entire career. Ricky Prole was
(13:46):
so money. He watched every he was so good. Oh
my good. If he had played on winning teams for
the most part, but he doesn't hit the Rams until
later on in his career. Prole could tell where the
ball was coming and he does a great job shielding
Brian Kelly, catches the ball, crosses the goal line, touchdown,
and it's a Rams lead. It's the only play they made.
(14:09):
One play. Even Warren Sapp after the game said we
held them down the entire day. They made one play
and that was enough, which tells you where the Tampa
Bay offense was. But one play, that's all it was.
Everything else was we can't do and we can't do anything.
We're relying on turnovers and field position. One play and
that goes into the end zone for a touchdown. And
it really was insane. This play, Donnie Abraham blitzes, which
(14:32):
means you have Ricky Prol the one on one coverage.
He nearly gets there. But Orlando Pace, one of the
greatest offensive linemen of all time slides over and blocks him.
John Lynch doesn't have enough. He can't make up the
pay the time to get there and and in time
to help. So this is how Prole winds up catching
it one on one his first touchdown of the season.
(14:53):
Ricky Prole's first touchdown of the season is the biggest
play for the Rams in the NFC Championship game. Yeah,
he just down the uh the drive charts. You got
that field goal early? Great? Right, six plays all of
thirteen yards. Field goal, punt, fumble, slash safety is how
it's logged. Punt punt interception, field goal punt, punt interception,
(15:18):
turnover on downs. That's like, yeah, no, that's that's about it. Right.
So when you add up all the yardage, I mean,
the first two drives are negated by the snap over
the head done. I mean we're talking about a hundred
forty yards or thereabouts in total offense when you get
down to it. Inability to run the ball really established
(15:39):
much of anything here. All Stott and Done can combine
for seventy four yards on the ground on twenty one carries.
And yes, Ricky Prole, who played the National Football League
for a total of just what seventeen years. That sounds
about right. I mean, because he had one big year
with the Prors right before he went to Louis uh
(16:01):
seven or fifty three yards career best seven touchdowns for
the Bears, and that ends up in St. Louis, Carolina, Indianapolis,
Arizona slash Phoenix. Seattle. Man had some well traveled career
and a lot of opportunity. Uh. He said after the game,
after this game that people think there's a hundred Ricky
(16:22):
Pearls out there that you can get anybody you want to.
There's only one Ricky Prole and he was that had
he played on better team. Because in the early nineties
you play in the Cardinals, you know, and then you
get to Seattle. So, as you said, all throughout the
league he was really solid. He was a sixty catch
a year guy. This is back when teams still didn't
throw the ball quite as much as they did now,
where sixty catches back then translates to eight five catches now,
(16:46):
I would say, I mean, he's your PPR monster. Yes,
that's exactly exactly, that's exactly where because changed, ye, yes,
he he would have been that guy. He's he's a
he's the quintessential number three receiver. You can put him outside,
you put him in the slide, you put him all
over the place, and he would produce, and he produced
everywhere he was. Look the guy, like he said, the
(17:06):
guy was in the career in the NFL from until
two thousand and six for a reason and run clubhouse
guy quarterbacks. Well but it is though. It's like you
bring if you're gonna move that off and it's the alright,
this guy picks things up fast, he's not gonna cause
any problems, and he's gonna teach you how to be
(17:26):
a professional. This was his game, this was his moment.
This was the Ricky Prole moment. But still there was
a little bit of work left to be done. Because
Ricky Pearl's touchdown gives the St. Louis Rams the eleven
six lead, there is still four forty four left to go.
And if you're thinking at some point the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers offense is gonna have one drive, this is gonna
(17:47):
be that time. Because as much as we talk about
the Rams at nine having one play, this offense, the
Bucks offense was was was abysmal. But you kind of
expect that from them, because this is not how they
do business. But you would expect more than six points
out of them, and that one drive's gotta happen. This
is gonna be it. Now with everything at stake, Tampa
Bay gets the football back and they start getting down
(18:10):
the field. They drive into St. Louis territory and there's
a second and twenty three play which becomes the play
of the game, and we had a rule made about
it because of this play. Sean King completes a thirteen
yard past a Burdah Manual al right, Burda Manuel catches
the ball. Tampa Bay calls a time out. They have
the ball at the twenty yard line, where it's gonna
(18:32):
be third and ten. So Emmanuel comes up with it.
It's it's a throw, it's it's it's near to the ground,
but Emmanual catches it, rolls over, is touched, booms down,
and Tampa Bay calls time out. So the ball the
twenty yard line, third and ten, and the broadcast is saying,
all right, now, what kind of player you're gonna have.
You have two chances, obviously, and then even the play
by play announcers are talking about it and they're going,
(18:57):
I don't know their reviewing this. Their reviewing this there.
You know, you listen to the Rams. Guys, listen to
Rams played by play, their reviewing. I don't know why
they're Tampa Bay, same thing there. I don't know why
they're reviewing this. This is a catch by burnam manual,
and so the officials during the Tampa Bay time out,
which if head coach Tony Dungee could do it over again,
he would probably not have called time out because nobody
(19:18):
would have questioned it. But because they called time out
to try to figure things out, the officials review it.
This has been the you know, the new replay rule
had been in effect now and they come out and
say the ball hit the ground, the passes incomplete. You
can watch this replay a thousand times and it really
takes an eye to see maybe the point of the
(19:40):
football touched the ground. But in thousand, like in in
in two thousand, twenty and and and two thousand eighteen,
I can see where, Okay, maybe this isn't a catch
because they want to get so specific on controlling the
ball and everything else. But in two thousand, this is
a catch. Didn't Nobody was even questioning that this was
(20:01):
a catch. He had control of the ball, he had
his hand under the ball. He rolled over, but he
had the ball in his possession the entire time. There
was no time where he had the football maybe just
held the bottom half of it. He had his hand
over it and under it the whole time. I mean,
that's a catch. There was no way it wasn't a catch.
It was weird. It was reviewed and when it comes
back and they say pass in complete. So now it's
(20:24):
third and twenty three. This is one of those moments
where I said, boy, the NFL could be fixed. I mean, boy,
the NFL could be fixed. Because do you want Tampa
Bay in their crappy offense in the Super Bowl or
do you want the greatest show on turf? I mean
there was there's moments where I go, boy, if the
NFL was fixed. This is that moment. Such a bad call,
so bad. I mean, this is the rewatching this as
(20:49):
as we were prepping and even running it back. Now
as we're talking, I just started shaking my heads and
I want to throw a pencil at the screen, maybe
something a little heavier without breaking my computer. It's it's
just nine out of a hundred times that's a catch.
I think it's a catch a hundred times out of
a hundred times. I don't know. I don't know what
they saw. There's always gonna be that one guy. So
(21:12):
what did you see that made him go look at this?
The rams didn't yell you gotta look at this. Nobody
was yelling you gotta look at this. Nobody was nobody,
nobody was rolled through. Yeah, I mean there there didn't
appear to be anything controversy about it. It's catch, a bad,
badly miscall. And we could have had I mean, they
still had to finish the drive. Let's call it what
(21:34):
it is. And I don't have a lot of faith
that they were going to finish it. No, but I
would have went from seeing that finished. You went from
third and ten now it's third and three and and
what happened to you? Took the air out of the
balloon for the bucks where things were getting really tight,
and t w a don't boy, third and ten at
the twenty yard line. Any play could get you in
the end zone because now you're within twenty yards. Even
(21:54):
Sean Kin can throw the ball twenty yards as limited
as he was off. Come on, now, no, No, I
met him a couple of times. He's a really scot.
I never brought the game up though I met him
a couple of times at ESPN. Really nice guy always,
you know from the interactions I had with him. Never
brought this game up. I'm like, I can't bring this
game up. Still, never understand though he starts starts all
of the two thousand season, and then he would only
(22:15):
go on to appear in another twelve NFL games. Yeah,
uh so Shaun King Now who had two chances too
incomplete passes Later, the game is over, the Rams kneel
on the football and they go to the Super Bowl
with an eleven to six victory. The stats for this
game so incredibly ugly. Warner through for two fifty eight,
(22:35):
one touchdown but three picks. Marshall Falk ran for forty
four yards. Ricky Pearl had the big stay the only
guy who had a big stat line six for a
hundred and a touchdown. That's it. Everybody else it was,
oh man, really all start ran for thirty nine yards,
Work Done ran for thirty five. Shaun King through for
one sixty three and two picks. I mean, nobody had
(22:56):
a good game stat wise, except for Ricky Prole six
catches for a hundred yards in the touchdown. You could well,
if it wasn't for the burn of manual play, you
would say it's the Ricky Pearl game. But as we're
gonna hear coming up, it really turns into the burn
a manual rule. But that was the only Ricky Prole
the game. This is my moment and that I looked
back at this game. I would watch this game every
day if I was him. Yea touchdown is my day. Well,
(23:19):
and that was a pretty catch. And and just to
put a period at the end of the sentence for
Kurt Warner's performance, he was awful all day, right. The
three interceptions were terrible, a couple others that probably should
have been picked. But that touchdown past to Ricky Pearle,
I don't think you can lay it, I mean, any
other any better. The underarmed soft toss to try to
(23:40):
find this spot. You can't throw a ball any better
than he did, and Prole coming down with it, making
sure he got his feet down in the corner right
along the chalk. I mean, just an amazing run and
you know I just have to celebrate. Also, az Zer
Hakim just because we talked about the rest of these guys.
Uh So let's get of Oz is here at Keem
(24:02):
as well. So the game that would have been and
probably is, the Ricky Prole game for the Rams turned
into the Bird of Manual rule and the Bird of
Manual game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as it was ruled.
He did not come up with that. The controversy was
just beginning. Way do we tell you coming up next
about Tony Dungee and the aftermath of this game. As
(24:23):
the Rams went to the Super Bowl and the Bucks
went home, a special teams with Jason Smith and Mike
Armit with everybody shaking their head over the bird of
(24:48):
manual play that could have turned the NFC Championship game
on its ear. Tony Dungee, head coach of the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers, did not see the replay of the Bird
of manual play until ill the next day. He's answering
questions in the post game. Yeah, I don't know, yeah,
I look like a catch, all these things. Then he
sees the replay and he is incensed. He calls the
(25:10):
NFL offices and he said, now we have to take
back every catch Chris Carter ever had in his career.
If you're gonna take this catch back, all those Chris
Carter catches back, he was hot and I can't say
I blame him because this was a catch. And because
of this, the NFL looks into the rule and because
of that play, they clarified it for the next season
(25:31):
that if you if you have control of the ball
under it you're doing, that's a catch. They called it
the bird of manual rule. Didn't help Tampa Bay now,
But but the fact that you have to be told, oh, yeah,
that should have been a catch, And it's then why
wasn't that a catch? Again? I go back to boy,
if there were times I felt the NFL was fixed,
it's for that moment in time right there. So the
bird of manual rule comes about because of this play,
(25:54):
and Tony Dungee hadn't seen it. And look, is it
great to get an apology from the NFL. Know, but
at least you get the apology. Uh. And and they
and they called you back. It's like you, well, we
broke up, but at least I got to, you know,
tell the other person, give them a piece of my
mind and say what they did. And what I hope
happens to them on their way. We're still broken up,
but at least I got to talk to them before
(26:14):
and say that, so I feel good. I got that
off my chest. Well you gotta get that off your chest. Yeah,
I mean. And and for Tony Dungee, it's funny in
the immediate after math, you see his salt nous uh.
You see herm Edwards. You see all the guys on
the sideline looking around on because there they know one
uh might have gotten away right there. And to take
(26:35):
the time. I mean, now it's the I didn't see it,
but they're still seething because someone's gotten in their ear.
The fact that it took that extra time to go
over the top is kind of interesting to me. Um.
But change comes in in strange forms, especially in the NFL.
I mean, if we've learned anything, it takes a big
play on a huge stage to usually get the powers
(26:59):
that be to at least take a look at it.
They don't always move so swiftly. So the fact that
this was immediately put into place, Man, they know they
screwed this up. I'd love to see the letter of
apology that went with it. Well, you want to know
the best part of this story because this affects things
now here in because Bird of Manual is on Twitter,
all right, he's out and you know, tweets about a
(27:20):
lot of things. And and he you know, he does
stuck with the XFL with the Roughnecks, and uh, his
Twitter handle is the Bird of Manual Rule. Oh, that's
his Twitter handle is the Bird of Manual Rule. And
I'm reading you from his Twitter profile it says husband
Dada five Houston Roughnecks inspiration behind NFL is the Bird
of Manual catch Rule. So at least he's able to
(27:42):
understand it. All right, this is my legacy. And the
picture he has on Twitter, his background page, he's got
he's got a profile picture of himself. But the big
picture behind you Twitter is him making that catch. That's good.
That's good. He never let him forget. It's so awesome.
It's me. Look, I got my hands under the ball
and making the catch. It's that works. I did it.
(28:05):
I made the play. Oh I love that. You gotta
have a sense of humor about it. But also it's
still flipping the bird back of the National Football League
because you would have been at least you could have
played the part of a hero again who that hell
knows how that drive ends if it's continues without that hiccup.
(28:25):
But uh yeah, Burna Manuel having some fun with it.
I dig that. So for both of these teams, they
go in different directions, although for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
it's a different direction to get to the same spot.
The Rams win the Super Bowls we talked about and
most talked about Super Bowl, one of the most talked
about Super Bowls we've seen in the past thirty years.
Tampa Bay begins their journey to what would end in
(28:46):
a Super Bowl victory in two thousand and three on
the backs of many of these defensive players that vault
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a win over the Oakland Raiders.
Shaun King was not the starting quarterback. He played one
full season as started the following year in two thousand.
He throws eighteen touchdowns thirteen picks, doesn't make it to
(29:07):
three thousand yards he has. Tampa Bay wins ten games,
but the Bucks soon realized we need something else, so
they wind up replacing him with Brad Johnson, who comes
in at the end, and he was a guy that
made a few more places, not like Brad Johnson was incredible.
His reputation was all he does is win. But Brad
Johnson certainly made enough plays, brought you that veteran leadership,
(29:29):
and it was behind Brad Johnson that Tampa Bay wound
up winning the Super Bowl a couple of years later. Uh,
Shaun King stayed in the league until two thousand and
four and that was it. He was out of the
NFL at the age of twenty seven. When he came
in a Tampa Bay. All the promotion that he had,
he's gonna win, He's gonna be a guy to grow
into the job. Did he get the job a little
(29:49):
too early? Probably, but because of Dilford's injury, you have
to go there, and maybe things would have turned out
differently for Shaun King. But still in the end, he
was a limited quarterback. Tampa Bay went to a quarterback
who wasn't quite as limited, and that's what they wanted.
Went in the Super Bowl behind Well still riding you
know that backfield and those that that monster's defense. Again.
(30:10):
You you listed all the names off the top as
we started this podcast. I mean, all of those guys
became heroes and you saw the coaching Tree and the
pedigree that that rolled through. Obviously a different headman by
time it went through, but you know, building that foundation.
Brad Johnson, you know, he's a guy eats him. It's Dilford.
(30:33):
You've got a few of those guys like you know,
they won super Bowls. And it's not to be not
a pejorative, it's just they weren't the focus of the team,
whereas we're so conditioned. I think, at least for the
last the Tom Brady here and let's call it that way,
that the quarterbacks or everything going back to Elway, going
through Brady and Peyton, Manning and and on it it's
(30:55):
always been about the quarterback. Yeah, you've got a hiccup
here and there where other guys rose up and had
monster games, but you know, usually it's the the big
arm of the QB, just like the driving force of
marketing and media for the NFL. So there it is.
The St. Louis Rams win the NFC title game eleven
(31:16):
six in a defensive struggle. You watch the Buccaneers defense
make plays the entire game. You watch the Rams defense
make plays, and as I said in the beginning, the
Rams won the game, but the Bucks defense the way
they played, shutting down the greatest show on turf. Unlike
we had seen. St. Louis gets shut down. Even when
they would lose in the Super Bowl and lose games,
(31:37):
their offense still would put points up. This was such
a one moment in time. Look at what Tampa Bay
did to them, and just one more play And sometimes
that's the difference, Mike, when you say, boy, they made
one more play than we did. And that is the
answer of this game. The St. Louis Rams made one
play on offense. That was it. Had the Buccaneers made
one play on offense, they win the game, things go differently.
(32:00):
But they made zero plays on offense and and made
a mistaken and gave the Rams two points on a
safety because of a bad snap when clearly, well even
if the bird of manual catch doesn't happen, maybe Tampa
Bay kicks a field goal and we at least go
to overtime and something different. One play, the St. Louis
Rams made one play on offense. Tampa Bay made zero,
(32:20):
and that's why the Rams go on to win the
Super Bowl. Yeah, they got the moral victory. I'll what
they did. They held them. They held them to eleven
points and Dick Formila saying, yeah, that's goad. You take
the moral victory. I'll take the Super Bowl. That's just
one of those strange, strange games, right, because Kurt Warner
did everything he could to hand it over except for
one play, but Shaun Kang and that offense unable to
(32:45):
really do much and and the first three points were
a gift, right. I mean, so so you go through
uh an absolute zero but a fun game pillar to
post because anytime you know we're still in winning time
within seven, you're feeling pretty good at about where you're
at as a league and certainly as a fan of
the game. All Right, it's not about somewhere are they? Now?
(33:06):
Where are some of the players from this NFC title game? Well,
why don't we start with Shaun King. We've talked about
him a lot. Uh. He is the running backs coach
for the South Florida Bulls uh and he's been on
the staff a few years. He was the recruiter of
the Year for the American Athletic Conference back in twenty seventeen. Uh.
You got Jacas Green. He's coaching at Manatee High School.
(33:28):
There's a lot of coaching. Wait, He coaches Manatees. They
play football underwater. Now that I'd like to say, well,
you know, I'd really like to see that he's working
up a great act. But uh, really, I could have
listed about thirty five guys that are coaching or administrators
at various high schools. Jacoba is Green the most targeted
receiver in this game by Shaun King. They threw to
(33:49):
him seven times. He caught four balls for fifty nine yards.
He was the leading wide receiver on the day for
Tampa Bay. Yeah. So he just enjoined Manatee High School
and I'll have you know he was a two time
matten Bull champion, So he gets that extra poem. Alright, Well,
I tell you that's a lot of points right there. Well,
but that's why you get into the where are they now?
You gotta have something special going on. Cheetahata to Uh.
(34:11):
He is part of a talent agency called Magellan Entertainment.
They represent he's still alive. Well, I mean someone's got
to look out for the legacy and the no well,
I mean the explorers. You know, nowadays you gotta go
and do deep dives into everything, but Magellan Entertainment. I
mean he navigated the Earth for the first time, Magellan.
(34:32):
This is navigating the globe to find the best talent
and musicians, actors, models, you name it, but they represent you,
saying both, Okay, well, hey, they clearly they know the
talent when they see it. And you can make him
a wide receiver and have him cover punch. That's what
I would do for you, saying about that next level
cover kickoffs, puns and a wide receiver. Adam Timmerman, he's
(34:53):
back in Cherokee, Iowa as part of Icon Agriculture and Turf.
That's it's a John Dear dealer, nice driving the base,
the big stuff in the big machinery. And finally, Brad
Culpepper Culpepper Curling Law firm. And he's also been on
Survivor multiple times, unique distinction. He and his wife both
(35:18):
were runners up in different seasons. Wow, I did not
know that. I should have known that, Brad multiple times.
I should have known that. Okay, all right? And I
remember when they cut Brad Culpepper after the season. It was,
oh my god, Brad Culpepper, he's gonna be great. Now
another couple of years somewhere he goes to your bears
and he plays one year and then that was it
(35:38):
from Brad Culpepper. Uh that also that also is it?
For us here on Special Teams Jason Smith, Mike Carmen.
For this week, we finished How I Love the Nineties run.
We get into the eighties next week with some huge games,
some huge memories. We can't wait to bring your way.
If you have ideas for future Special Teams podcast, hit
us up on Twitter at how out of Fresca Mike
(36:01):
and Swollen Dumb. We're starting to take some of your recommendations. Hey,
you wanted to get to the eighties, We're gonna get
into the eighties now, which is gonna be a real
fun decade and stuff to go through. Our show has
heard five days a week on Fox Sports Radio Monday
through Friday, ten pm to two am on the East Coast,
seven to eleven on the West Coast. We'll talk to
you next week with more Special Teams. Before you go,
(36:32):
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