December 12, 2024 • 7 mins
Step into the frosty history of the 1982 Snow Plow Game on Daily Sports History. Discover how a snow-covered field, a groundskeeper’s plow, and a strategic kick led the New England Patriots to a controversial 3-0 victory over the Miami Dolphins. Explore the game’s unique circumstances, its lasting impact on NFL rules, and why it remains a legendary moment in football history.
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Email: dailysportshistory@gmail.com
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Email: dailysportshistory@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On December twelfth, nineteen eighty two, the NFL had the
first game ever decided with the help of a John
Deere tractor when the New England Patriots use a John
Deere tractor to clear the field for their kicker to
win a game versus the Miami Dolphins. Today, we're going
to dive into the story of the snowplow game and
(00:20):
how it all happened on Daily Sports History. Welcome to
Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you
daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge.
And today's driven question to listen out for is what
(00:41):
rule did the Miami Dolphins say the Patriots broke using
a snowplow And listen throughout the episode to find out
the answer, and if you miss it, we'll give it
to you at the very end. There's two things that
have gone around and kind of bring true through the
years in the NFL England. There's probably gonna be weather
(01:02):
when it starts to get cold that will affect the
ending of games. And the Miami Dolphins struggle when it's cold,
and that showed itself more than ever on December twelfth,
nineteen eighty two, when the Dolphins went up to New
England and the night before the game rain had soaked
the field, who was using astro turf at the time,
(01:23):
which is essentially carpet, nowhere close to the turf that
we have today. And then after the rain, the temperature dropped,
freezing the rain and then added snow on top of it,
so it wasn't only snow, it was also ice on
a field that was already slippery due to the fact
that you could not wear usual cleats on the astro turf.
(01:45):
And this was a unique season as it was a
strike sort in season and teams only played nine games,
so every game counted even more as a team as
nine games leaves little to the chance, and the teams
flat out struggled. There was no ru coming into the game.
The Dolphins were four and one and the Patriots were
(02:07):
two and three, each of one of them vibing for
a chance to make that playoff spot as there was
only nine games in the strikes short and season, and
the game started, the temperature was twenty six degrees with
wins of sixteen miles an hour and wind chill was
at fourteen And I will be honest with you, this
game was awful. From the onslot. Nobody could get their footing,
(02:30):
nobody could move the way they wanted to. No one
really had the upper hand. New England had a total
of thirteen yards passing the entire game and only through
the ball five times. The Dolphins loved to pass, but
they only had seventy yards of passing throughout the entire games.
Both teams focused on the run because that was the
one thing you could control, but each team had three turnovers.
(02:54):
The teams were fumbling the ball, there was multiple interceptions,
and surprisingly each team only had one penalty apiece because
there wasn't time to have penalties. Everybody was falling down,
there was no footing. You had to make a precise
pass to catch the ball, and you had to make
a clean cut to get a block or even make
a tackle. It was a challenge for everyone involved and
(03:16):
it wasn't until the end of the game, with four
minutes and forty five seconds left, where the Patriots actually
got into field goal range and they were getting ready
to set up for a field goal when snowplow operator
who was there to clear out the lines on the
field so they could see where each five yard line
was and the hashes and would regularly be doing this
(03:37):
in between plays. Came onto the field and plowed a
spot that would give the Patriots kicker John Smith a
little space to make a kick. All he did was
drive on look like he was clearing out the line,
but instead he veered a little bit left, clearing a
spot for the kicker, and he was able to make
a field goal, putting the Patriots up three to zero.
(03:57):
But the Dolphins came back and had a chance to
make kick on their own, and they actually offered to
clear the field for their final kick as well, but
the Dolphins refused and instead of going for the kick,
he went for a fourth down, which they lost. But
they did have one other chance for a hail Mary
pass at the end of the game, but it got intercepted.
(04:19):
So who was this mystery man, Mark Henderson who drove
the snowplow. Well, he was a convicted felon out on
work release. I wish today that would never happen. Everyone
would love to have just that job, maybe even for free,
to work with their favorite team. And he often joked
when he did this, like what are they gonna do?
Throw me in jail? He was already out on a
(04:40):
work release, and both teams actually had success after this game,
making the playoffs and face each other in the playoffs.
For the Dolphins actually won and would make it all
the way to the Super Bowl, where they would lose
eventually to the Washington football team, But this did change
the fortunes even though the Dolphins did complain about this afterwards,
(05:01):
even though they were given the chance to do the
same exact thing, they complained and the following year they
banned snowplows of use during the game to give the
advantage to a team as the only person that could
clear the field is the players who could do so
with their hands and feet, and Don Shula, the coach
of the Miami Dolphins, actually took this to the NFL
(05:21):
under the Rule seventeen, the Unfair Rule Act, which actually
allows the Commissioner to overturn a game because there was
an unfair rule, which Commissioner Pete Roselle responded saying he
would never do that even though this seemed unfair. They
were offered the same advantage and declined it, and he
would never overturn a game as it would be a
(05:44):
dangerous precedent in the future. Now, this game, if you
watch clips of it is kind of funny to watch
everyone's fallen down, everyone's losing their feet, But it did
change the history of the NFL, even though it's not
something that happens very often. And the way technology has
changed in the NFL fields is so much different than
it was back in the nineteen eighties, we'll probably not
(06:04):
have an event like this. But it also it started
kind of the Patriot way of being in controversial situations
such as the Tuck rule and the flake Gate and
increase the rivalry of the Dolphins in Patriots. And what's
interesting is that same John Dere tractor is at the
current stadium of the Patriots, hanging from the ceiling. As
(06:26):
its an iconic moment for them. And I want to
thank you for listening to today's episode. If you want
more Patriots content, check out the Pats Nation Network where
you get multiple episodes a week of smart, usually unbiased,
but not really fun Patriots talk to help you grow
your Patriots fan hood. And you can check out the
(06:48):
link in the description of this episode so you can
check out their podcast. And if you enjoyed today's podcast,
please follow us on social media. We'll put our social
medias in the description below. We're at Daily Sports, his
on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, blue Sky, wherever you'd like to socialize,
we're there and have you be a part of our community?
(07:10):
And did you catch today's treat? A question? What rule
did the Miami Dolphins say the Patriots broke? Don Strula,
the Miami Dolphins coach, said the Patriots broke Rule seventeen
Fair Act clause, which would have allowed the game to
be overturned, but they did not win their challenge
On December twelfth, nineteen eighty two, the NFL had the
first game ever decided with the help of a John
Deere tractor when the New England Patriots use a John
Deere tractor to clear the field for their kicker to
win a game versus the Miami Dolphins. Today, we're going
to dive into the story of the snowplow game and
(00:20):
how it all happened on Daily Sports History. Welcome to
Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you
daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge.
And today's driven question to listen out for is what
(00:41):
rule did the Miami Dolphins say the Patriots broke using
a snowplow And listen throughout the episode to find out
the answer, and if you miss it, we'll give it
to you at the very end. There's two things that
have gone around and kind of bring true through the
years in the NFL England. There's probably gonna be weather
(01:02):
when it starts to get cold that will affect the
ending of games. And the Miami Dolphins struggle when it's cold,
and that showed itself more than ever on December twelfth,
nineteen eighty two, when the Dolphins went up to New
England and the night before the game rain had soaked
the field, who was using astro turf at the time,
(01:23):
which is essentially carpet, nowhere close to the turf that
we have today. And then after the rain, the temperature dropped,
freezing the rain and then added snow on top of it,
so it wasn't only snow, it was also ice on
a field that was already slippery due to the fact
that you could not wear usual cleats on the astro turf.
(01:45):
And this was a unique season as it was a
strike sort in season and teams only played nine games,
so every game counted even more as a team as
nine games leaves little to the chance, and the teams
flat out struggled. There was no ru coming into the game.
The Dolphins were four and one and the Patriots were
(02:07):
two and three, each of one of them vibing for
a chance to make that playoff spot as there was
only nine games in the strikes short and season, and
the game started, the temperature was twenty six degrees with
wins of sixteen miles an hour and wind chill was
at fourteen And I will be honest with you, this
game was awful. From the onslot. Nobody could get their footing,
(02:30):
nobody could move the way they wanted to. No one
really had the upper hand. New England had a total
of thirteen yards passing the entire game and only through
the ball five times. The Dolphins loved to pass, but
they only had seventy yards of passing throughout the entire games.
Both teams focused on the run because that was the
one thing you could control, but each team had three turnovers.
(02:54):
The teams were fumbling the ball, there was multiple interceptions,
and surprisingly each team only had one penalty apiece because
there wasn't time to have penalties. Everybody was falling down,
there was no footing. You had to make a precise
pass to catch the ball, and you had to make
a clean cut to get a block or even make
a tackle. It was a challenge for everyone involved and
(03:16):
it wasn't until the end of the game, with four
minutes and forty five seconds left, where the Patriots actually
got into field goal range and they were getting ready
to set up for a field goal when snowplow operator
who was there to clear out the lines on the
field so they could see where each five yard line
was and the hashes and would regularly be doing this
(03:37):
in between plays. Came onto the field and plowed a
spot that would give the Patriots kicker John Smith a
little space to make a kick. All he did was
drive on look like he was clearing out the line,
but instead he veered a little bit left, clearing a
spot for the kicker, and he was able to make
a field goal, putting the Patriots up three to zero.
(03:57):
But the Dolphins came back and had a chance to
make kick on their own, and they actually offered to
clear the field for their final kick as well, but
the Dolphins refused and instead of going for the kick,
he went for a fourth down, which they lost. But
they did have one other chance for a hail Mary
pass at the end of the game, but it got intercepted.
(04:19):
So who was this mystery man, Mark Henderson who drove
the snowplow. Well, he was a convicted felon out on
work release. I wish today that would never happen. Everyone
would love to have just that job, maybe even for free,
to work with their favorite team. And he often joked
when he did this, like what are they gonna do?
Throw me in jail? He was already out on a
(04:40):
work release, and both teams actually had success after this game,
making the playoffs and face each other in the playoffs.
For the Dolphins actually won and would make it all
the way to the Super Bowl, where they would lose
eventually to the Washington football team, But this did change
the fortunes even though the Dolphins did complain about this afterwards,
(05:01):
even though they were given the chance to do the
same exact thing, they complained and the following year they
banned snowplows of use during the game to give the
advantage to a team as the only person that could
clear the field is the players who could do so
with their hands and feet, and Don Shula, the coach
of the Miami Dolphins, actually took this to the NFL
(05:21):
under the Rule seventeen, the Unfair Rule Act, which actually
allows the Commissioner to overturn a game because there was
an unfair rule, which Commissioner Pete Roselle responded saying he
would never do that even though this seemed unfair. They
were offered the same advantage and declined it, and he
would never overturn a game as it would be a
(05:44):
dangerous precedent in the future. Now, this game, if you
watch clips of it is kind of funny to watch
everyone's fallen down, everyone's losing their feet, But it did
change the history of the NFL, even though it's not
something that happens very often. And the way technology has
changed in the NFL fields is so much different than
it was back in the nineteen eighties, we'll probably not
(06:04):
have an event like this. But it also it started
kind of the Patriot way of being in controversial situations
such as the Tuck rule and the flake Gate and
increase the rivalry of the Dolphins in Patriots. And what's
interesting is that same John Dere tractor is at the
current stadium of the Patriots, hanging from the ceiling. As
(06:26):
its an iconic moment for them. And I want to
thank you for listening to today's episode. If you want
more Patriots content, check out the Pats Nation Network where
you get multiple episodes a week of smart, usually unbiased,
but not really fun Patriots talk to help you grow
your Patriots fan hood. And you can check out the
(06:48):
link in the description of this episode so you can
check out their podcast. And if you enjoyed today's podcast,
please follow us on social media. We'll put our social
medias in the description below. We're at Daily Sports, his
on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, blue Sky, wherever you'd like to socialize,
we're there and have you be a part of our community?
(07:10):
And did you catch today's treat? A question? What rule
did the Miami Dolphins say the Patriots broke? Don Strula,
the Miami Dolphins coach, said the Patriots broke Rule seventeen
Fair Act clause, which would have allowed the game to
be overturned, but they did not win their challenge
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