The greatest NFL game ever

Back in January 1982, my family and the Comfort family were busy driving one Saturday night from Colorado back to Missouri after a ski vacation in Breckenridge, Colorado. As we drove through Kansas that evening, we listened on the radio to what was surely the greatest NFL football game of all time and perhaps the greatest football game of any kind ever played. While I did get to see various highlights of the game, I never was able to see the whole thing, until recently when I purchased a DVD on-line of the entire game. I can now safely say that it was, without a doubt, the greatest ever. Here's just a few reasons why:
1. There were almost too many lead changes or ties in the game to count (I have it at seven), including Miami coming back from being down 24-0 in the first quarter.
2. The hook and lateral play (aka hook and ladder) play at the end of the first half pulled off by Miami's Don Strock, Duriel Harris, and Tony Nathan. If you haven't see this play, you're either fourteen years old, or you've been living in a cave on the far side of a mountain with your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears for the last 26+ years.



Warning: The above video is long and the play doesn't come until about the fourth minute, so be patient. For another take on the play, see below:





3. Between them, QBs Dan Fouts and Don Strock threw the ball for something like 85 times and over 750 yards.


4. San Diego tight end Kellen Winslow set an AFC playoff record for receptions in a single game- 13 caught for 166 yards. He also blocked a potential game-winning kick at the end of regulation, all while suffering from an injured shoulder and serious exhaustion. At the end of the game, he had to be carried off by his teammates.



5. The game featured three missed game-winning field goals, two by Miami's Uwe von Schamann and one by San Diego's Rolf Benirschke.


6. In the first quarter, San Diego's Wes Chandler returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Miami failed to field the ball and San Diego recovered the live ball.


7. The announcers were Don Crique and John Brodie, the beer commercials were by Schlitz, Budweiser, Stroh's, Miller, and Colt 45. 7-11's advertising slogan was, "Freedom's Waiting For You," (Freedom from Hassle and Delay, to be specific). The RCA SelectaVision Video Disc player was offered for "less than $500" and America's Driving Machinewas the 1982 Dodge Aries K Wagon, because, "On a night like this, you don't need a car, you need a driving machine."


8. The game also included Don Coryell, Don Shula, Jimmy Cefalo, the Orange Bowl, a wire that was hanging down from the stands that had to be cut down, thus delaying the game at a crucial point, and, one of my childhood favorites, Chuck Muncie.