Friday, November 18, 2005

The Theismann play, 20 years ago today

Deadspin, along with other news sites, notes that the most famous injury in NFL history happened 20 years ago today. Lawrence Taylor hit Joe Theismann's right leg in the 2nd quarter of a Giants-Redskins Monday Night Football game, breaking the leg in two places and ending Theismann's playing career. I remember watching that game and seeing that hit. My parents were divorced and on Monday nights, my mother had orchestra rehearsal, so my brother and I would spend the night at my dad's apartment. Dad and I are both football fans, so MNF was a must-watch in our house. I don't remember my reaction to seeing the injury on live TV, but I think ABC played it over and over. It was definitely the worst thing I'd ever seen in a football game to that time. I'm a little surprised HBO didn't make this into a segment on "Inside the NFL" this week, though I'm sure they've covered it in depth before. (The "On the Road with Peter King" segment on Wednesday night was excellent, and they don't really need to rehash the Theismann injury anyway.) Anyway, I'm reminiscing, mostly because that's what I like to do. And I'm about to head out for the weekend, so blogging seemed like a good way to pass a few minutes.

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