Shula by Mark Ribowsky

Author:Mark Ribowsky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Liveright
Published: 2019-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

Shula’s blueprint was flawless. Griese had gone 6-for-6. Misdirection runs and trap blocking plays would propel Csonka 112 yards on just 15 carries, and Kiick and Morris 72 more. Larry Brown, meanwhile, was being targeted as soon as he lined up, combinations of linemen and linebackers erecting a wall he couldn’t get through. On the bench, he was wincing in pain. And things got worse for Allen in the second half. His kicker missed a 32-yard field goal. A Kilmer pass to an open Smith in the end zone hit the crossbar. On the next play, another end-zone pass went to Taylor. Scott, the game’s MVP, again intercepted it and took it back 55 yards.

But finally Allen got a break, if an incredibly strange one. After giving up a 49-yard run by Csonka, his defense made a big play, intercepting Griese in the end zone near the end of the third quarter. And then, with 2:38 left in the game, Yepremian attempted an insurance field goal from the 42. The snap to Morrall, the holder, was low and to the outside, and when the left-footed Yepremian sent it up, the ’Skins Bill Brundige got a hand on it, sending the ball skipping backward near the sideline. Yepremian got to it first. In such a situation, Shula had told him, he was to fall on the ball. Period. But the wee tie maker thought he could pass—though to whom, no one knew. Trying to get a grip with his tiny hand—his right hand—his arm went forward as the ball squirted straight up. As if playing volleyball, when it came down, he batted it into the air with both hands. It came down in the hands of cornerback Mike Bass, who tripped lightly down the sideline to score a ridiculous 49-yard touchdown, officially a fumble return.

The NFL Films clips would show spare Dolphin linebacker Al Jenkins on the sideline, unbelieving, shouting, “Damn!” While almost everyone else watching guffawed about the Gong Show play that seemed to prove Alex Karras right about “keeckers.” Shula, who’d seen some wild kicking plays in his day, could have had a coronary. But he had a game to win. All he said to Yepremian was, “Next time, fall on it!” He later said he felt “terrible” for Yepremian, pity not shared by all. When Yepremian came to the bench, the scabrous Bob Kuechenberg told him he’d made a “chickenshit play.” Buoniconti double-teamed him: “I’m gonna kill you, you little cocksucker. I’ll hang you with one of your ties.”13

With the game suddenly in doubt with two minutes remaining, Shula kept cool as he sent in his kickoff return team, yelling after them to watch for an onside kick. Allen, though, inexplicably kicked deep, and the Dolphin offense went in. Griese kept the clock moving with a gutty sideline pass to Warfield for a first down. With a minute left, they punted and the defense came in, the ball at the ’Skins 30. Two Kilmer passes fell incomplete. On

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