NFL "The Ball Is Still Live" Moments

[@long_strong8843]

1:07 "HIS HAND WAS GOIN FORWARD" lol

[@dentonyoung4314]

Well, technically, he's right. His HAND was indeed moving forward. The issue is that by the time his hand began to move forward, he no longer had the FOOTBALL in it.

[@isiahduran2041]

Fuckin killed me lmao

[@356z]

Seahawks fan 😂

[@VanillaLimeCoke]

Who shouted that???

[@SeenInMirrors]

@@VanillaLimeCoke God, I think.

[@PrinceRN]

"Did you hear a whistle?" - every coach, every time

[@supermike0822]

Some of my favorite plays... the guys who pick up these live balls and return them show that they are TUNED IN to the game. They know the rules and are aware of what's happening beyond just their assignment. Fun stuff!

[@timothykieper]

Also helps when everyone else is stupid?

[@cjmacq-vg8um]

much credit goes to the refs who correctly called these plays and didn't blow the whistle too early.

[@Jivvi]

Credit to the camera operator at 1:50 who kept following the play. But not to whoever decided to cut to a different camera.

[@geraldlogue7620]

And to the players who kept their heads in the game and realized the reason they never heard a whistle was because the ref never blew it...

[@DanielDuhon]

Not to the refs in the first clip, that call was BS

[@cjmacq-vg8um]

@@DanielDuhon .... after rewatching that play i agree. that call was definately bogus. damned refs. they can't get nothing right. oh wait....!

[@aricross3258]

The Plaxico catch was incorrectly called. He spiked the ball forward which would constitute a dead play, clock stoppage, and penalty to back him up not a TD going the other way.

[@Seahawksman_12]

"HIS HAND WAS MOVING FORWARD" LMFAO

[@matthewlangille5382]

Play till the whistle

[@richb1576]

Tuck rule.

[@awilliams5007]

One game its the tuck rule, then incomplete pass, then fumble, then illeagal man down field. Thats entertainment.

[@logicalblackman8228]

Richard Sherman lol.

[@millisock]

It wasn't Sherm it was Earl Thomas

[@logicalblackman8228]

I love how number 28 for the Rams was immediately aware of the situation and went full speed.

[@michaeld6147]

Didn't matter that there were 40 players on the field

[@logicalblackman8228]

@@michaeld6147 where do you see 40 players on the field?

[@michaeld6147]

@@logicalblackman8228 There were players from both teams coming off the field, and players from both teams coming on to the field.

[@logicalblackman8228]

@@michaeld6147 where does it show that?

[@geraldlogue7620]

And went coast to coast...

[@philcorrigan5641]

In any sport, always, always play to the whistle

[@44lionsfan]

I tried this in bowling. Family wouldn't talk to me for a week

[@craigkerr2764]

@@44lionsfanabout to say the same thing about baseball

[@roberts3697]

Doesn't work in golf, they kick you off the course.

[@danbsports6760]

On a more serious note, the way the rules are with replay, just take it to the house and let the refs sort it out.

[@logicalblackman8228]

Does that include baseball?

[@sonadorazul3074]

Plexico really shot himself in the foot on that play.

[@supermike0822]

🤣

[@moosejaw50]

Well done sir, well done.

[@lacolem1]

Damn, you beat me to it 😂

[@opinionhaver574]

You just won the internet.

[@stevez7530]

Unlike Stevie Wonder, I saw what you did there

[@commandosolo_193]

I can still hear my coach yelling at me about playing until you hear the whistle

[@jonathanbair523]

20 years later.. Yep I hear there voices saying that...

[@naterksmr]

If I'd walked up to a ref while he was making a call and yelled "HIS HAND WAS MOVING FORWARD!" I think my coach would still be yelling at me to this day...

[@dneary]

Every NFL coach should play this video along with instructions to take possession of any ball in the field of play and let the refs sort out whether it was an incomplete pass or not.

[@colmecolwag]

Seeing Ray Lewis be among those just sitting around watching the ball just kinda lay there doing nothing is a good reminder that even the all time greats arent perfect

[@forman208]

What's crazy is most of the teams that were the beneficiary of a free play, even touchdown, ended up losing anyway lol

[@KATONKA...]

To all those that are saying well his hand/arm was moving forward yeah well it's moving forward without the ball in control

[@Paulafan5]

The QB has to have control of the ball moving his arm forward when the ball is dislodged. Rodgers knew right away that the first play was a fumble. Why else would he be right where his teammate picked it up.

[@KATONKA...]

​@@Paulafan5exactly if he would have had control of the ball when his arm was going forward it would have been rolled incomplete pass

[@ThePsho]

I think most of those comments are just quoting the player on the hot mic at 1:06

[@chrischanmingle]

Thumbs up for making the thumbnail picture the first clip.

[@uTubeNoITube]

Joey Harrington ... my god those were dark days for my Lions. Looks like a much brighter future now though! Fingers crossed...

[@bradrace3923]

I hate “his hand was moving forward” argument. It doesn’t matter if his hand is moving forward if he has already lost control of the ball, which is the definition of a fumble.

[@robertojunior7716]

Tell that to an og Patriots fan. They might have a thing or two to say about the "tuck rule"😂

[@naterksmr]

Bro, if I'd yelled that at a ref, my coach would have benched me for the next few games.

[@sturmovik1274]

I think I remember the Plaxico Burress one. I was watching my Vikings and it was shown as a gamebreak.

[@JD-zd8tm]

The "Tuck Rule" made some of these plays ridiculous

[@andrewgrove1691]

A real tuck rule unlike brady

[@naterksmr]

"His hand was moving forward!" 🤣 If I'd walked up to a ref while he was making a call and yelled that, I'd have been sitting on the bench for at least the next few games.

[@rieldebonk1044]

???

[@KDTDAWG]

Ya kids, that’s what television used to look like.

[@abeartheycallFozzy]

Try hockey on a black and white TV in the 70s.

[@randomgrinn]

NO IT DIDN'T!! I have VHS I filmed myself in the 1980's on a cheap camera and it looks better than that. I don't understand why the pros have film that looks worse than mine.

[@AkodoGarou]

Not how that works, its the quality of the media and it being hilarious degraded, and not transferred to a better format when available. Dont get me wrong, watching in 480 was bad, but it wasn't unbearable mess.

[@NoumenalSoup]

It did not whatsoever look like that.

[@D1SneakyLink]

Dude mentioned Aaron Rodgers off rip with this grainy ass film and I thought the same

[@nathanvanek6479]

I love when the thumbnail is the opening clip. Then that way I don’t have to wait for it! Yay!

[@Sapphire-Neon]

I don't know if anyone else remembers, but there was one Seahawks game where something similar happened - I think it was ruled to be a fumble after a challenge or something. But what made it weird was that nobody picked the ball up at all. The official was the first one to touch it, and he spotted the ball for the next down. I don't remember what else exactly happened but I know it was a confusing mess.

[@JokerxDragon]

My heart, pierced when he said Plaxico Burress and that old ass looking footage..damn that was like 2 days ago not that long ago 😅

[@StraightBleach]

Bruh, the fact that we thought that was HD quality back then is wild.

[@xlerb2286]

I like little moments of confusion like that. It lets you know the players are still human.

[@jonathanbair523]

I my school days... I went to a few schools from 7-12 grade.. All my coach's always said "play till you hear the whistle....."

[@Stuff_And_Things]

Not a fan of the sport but I do love this kind of thing. ;)

[@steveswoodworking2504]

I really don't like football at all, but yes, I like this kind of thing also.

[@HardcorePuckhead]

Play 'till you hear a whistle. Every coach tells their players this all the time. How quickly they forget LOL

[@RandyRaz1]

Saints always have the greatest highlights !! 😢

[@BillyCobbOfficial]

1:26 I don’t think that would fly today

[@itztimg]

I mean, not sure what the officials could call. Maybe unnecessary roughness? Wouldn't be helmet to helmet contact

[@JimeLello]

That was literally the only thing Boykins did as a Packer but I will always remember him

[@DexterHaven]

You omitted my fave of all time. Devin Hester catches an attempted field goal and runs it back.

[@tommyigoe3952]

Thank you! Love NFL :)

[@CW11721]

I remember watching that first clip live. Good times.

[@beakt]

On that first one it's really unbelievable No. 50 on the Bears doesn't just pick it up and run just in case, especially when he didn't hear a whistle. He could have run a long time since all the Packers were just standing around too.

[@PlasmaCoolantLeak]

1:53 One hell of an example of situational awareness.

[@GuiltyGaming]

“Pick up the damn ball, CJ!”

[@nw4042]

This is the opposite of the Titans-Lions Thanksgiving not-whistled-down-when-he's-down moment.

[@OREvilleRed]

These clips from the 90s look like the were downscaled with a crayon

[@356z]

Suggs and Lewis on the same team takes me back. Football used to be great

[@HolyShnikeez_1975]

Plaxico was 100% still in the college rules mindset when he spiked that football

[@gscurd75]

This was drilled into my head in Jr High. If you don't hear a whistle, keep playing.

[@chessmaster1115]

Question at 2:36 it looks like the steeler WR knee hits ground so thought he was down by contact and they saying when he spiked it it was fumble? Was there a rule change or on this or am i seeing the play wrong here?!

[@kicorse]

In the NFL (as opposed to college), a player who goes to ground on his own - and isn't intentionally giving himself up - is not down by contact unless he is touched by an opposing player. He presumably thought he had been touched, but he was wrong and the play was still live.

[@truthiscensored]

Even in Pop Warner/Little League football they teach "Play until you hear the whistle"

[@joshuahahn6799]

“He did what!?” Antonio Freeman catch when everyone thought the ball was dead.

[@johnjones3813]

1:43 is so great

[@sebastianbenner977]

Why was that not a touchdown as soon the player entered the end zone?

[@BOFH_]

@@sebastianbenner977 I think it had to do with both teams' entire benches thinking the play was over, so they started walking onto the field to switch to the correct offense/defense squads. The result would be a penalty for both teams for having too many people on the field. The Rams could decline the penalty against the Saints to try and get their points, but the Saints would refuse to decline the penalty against the Rams, so it would be a net negative for the Rams as a result.

[@Rockhound6165]

That punt doesn't happen today. The moment the ball touches the ground in the endzone it's dead.

[@TexansFan218]

Ya. I wish they hadn’t changed that

[@Michael-sb8jf]

@@TexansFan218 when did they change this rule

[@Joe_Okey]

@@Michael-sb8jf It was in 2004. It was this play that caused the rule change.

[@EmberTheFlareon3579]

My question is, how did they not call it a TD? Dude was well in the endzone.

[@selonianth]

​@EmberTheFlareon3579 ??? The guy who picked it up was in his own end zone and the other team couldn't take possession unless someone on the receiving team touched the ball first. It *was* a touchdown when he reached the other endzone.

[@PADon69]

That’s why in practice, the coach teaches you to play until you hear the whistle.

[@pikkdogs]

Ray Lewis looking the other way like there’s a murder going on.

[@PaulGuy]

You never stop before the whistle.

[@ridemywheelie]

A couple years after the the famous Packer/Bear game, the Bears were in a game where it looked like a forward pass and everyone quit playing. After a second or two went by, the official blew the whistle just as the Bear was picking up the ball. They said that there is a special rule that the play is blown dead when both teams quit on the play, thinking it's over. That rule should have applied to these other games. In the playoff game, the Packers had also given up on the play. The only reason the one Packer decided to pick up the ball and run was because it was closer to the Packer bench and the coaches were yelling at him. He too had given up on the play before that. This rule exists to protect players. Imagine if a huge hit comes in and the other players think the play is dead, players will get hurt. And flags will be thrown for unnecessary roughness. Also "forward fumbles" are forbidden under 2 minutes left in the game. The forward fumble play would not stand at the end of the game.

[@johnavery3941]

As a football ref soccer to you across the pond and a cricket umpire all be it at an amateur level the first thing I would do if I was a Manager of any sports team is make all my players take and pass the Ref;s exam, the players may or may not have done so so but they knew the rules....and as a Ref we appreciate it

[@GurahkWeavile]

Lesson learned: don't stop playing until they blow the whistle!

[@ComradeNerd]

That Rams one was just 🤌

[@MobileGuy-hg3yh]

3 and a half minutes of people who understood the assignment.

[@InstinctVSM]

The refs deserve a lot of credit for these

[@ronvanderkellen]

KUDOS to the players who had their heads in the game! About 95% of players are more concerned with celebrating instead of focusing on what's really going on. If I were coaching and one of my players showed off for no other reason than to draw attention to himself, I'd send him to the shower.

[@lacolem1]

Best pass Joey Harrington ever made

[@NicsHODLN]

I was always told to never stop playing until you hear a whistle for this very reason

[@JustPierreMusic]

Play until the whistle is blown 🤌🏾

[@LostinmyAmazingness]

Ain’t over til it’s over.

[@jasonstevens3071]

Play until you hear the whistle.

[@mritty115]

As someone who's never played sports before, here's a dumb question: Can the players actually hear the ref's whistle on the field, in those massive stadiums packed with noise? Because if they *can* hear it each time, I cannot understand why they're not playing until the whistle. If they cannot always hear it, I could understand them assuming the play was dead based on how most similar plays look, and just that they couldn't hear the whistle as per usual.

[@PaulisMediocre]

I was a ref for local football with no crowd, and sometimes they didn't hear a whistle (or not). I think it's just brain fades, although I'm sure in a stadium it could be harder at times

[@maninredhelm]

I only played in high school, but when you have your head inside a plastic shell getting bashed around, some wind whistling by your earholes, and a ref who thinks he'll use the whistle up if he toots it more than a microsecond, you can definitely miss it. Never had much of a crowd at my games, but I'm sure crowd noise contributes too. In my opinion every whistle to end a play should be held a full 2 seconds.

[@CybeastID]

Imagine if instead of running he just casually meandered his way towards the endzone. How long do you think it would take the defense to cotton on? 1 minute? 2 minutes?

[@CaptainKirk007]

Burress thought he was in college still 😂

[@barrymac1951]

2:16….why was this rule ever changed?

[@sijdnsd6460]

The Saints at the time were very mad about this play because people were coming off and on the field. Essentially, it was a wild card play. The next offseason, the league got rid of it.

[@aralornwolf3140]

@@sijdnsd6460, Basically, they didn't like that no one knew the play was live... so they the league got rid of the play. *Shakes Head*

[@Corn_Pop_Da_Bad_Dude]

So now its a automatic touchback??

[@CaptainKirk007]

THAT HOT MIC 😂

[@mikepalmer1971]

Often wonder how some people are considered professional.

[@washingtongeorge8687]

I remember watching that Bears game and screaming at the Bears players to jump on that ball. I was so pissed off....

[@spencertwoeightyz3383]

i kinda feel like if my job paid me millions of dollars per year, i would be willing to skip a "shoulders and arms" day every now and again to brush up on the rules of the game i was playing.

[@feedthesnake3394]

forget this forward motion business. if it's up it's a throw. yeah, it can be used to bail out qb's but amount of injuries we would avoid. plus then we could listen to cam newton complain about the change till forever.

[@ChrisPierreBacon]

Ah the best play of Joey Harrington's career.

[@meganjoelyn2207]

For the love of God people! If you don't hear a whistle...HOLD ONTO THE BALL!!!!!!

[@LiljamezZz]

1:18 he was aware it just was a pre celebration 😂

[@DanielMcGillis-f3w]

I'm gonna let you finish, but HIS HAND WAS GOIN FORWARD!

[@jbohnoff]

As a football player, anytime a ball's on the ground after a play and the ref hasn't the touched it, YOU GRAB THE DAMN 🏈!!!

[@thebreakfastmegapowers3525]

If you don't hear the whistle, KEEP PLAYING

[@chessmaster1115]

As fun as football is i have to admit for watching it for so many decades there are still some instances where i am not sure what the rules are for some of those funny situations that happen ! I remember wondering what happens on blocked kick if it still live or dead on extra points and field goals and whether it was hitting ground or caught if it were live or dead!

[@Coach_Jay_Jay]

The first play was the beginning of the end for Lovey Smith

[@johnmiller7682]

Literally the number one rule in football, play until you hear the whistle.

[@VanillaCuckoo]

I don't understand how a pro player can stand right next to a ball that's rolling to stop on the ground and just ignore it. If you don't hear a whistle, pick it up, of course. But even if you think you've heard a whistle, pick it up anyway just to make sure - you're right there! That's what I would do. I'm not talking about if the ball is 15 yards away and you have to hustle past a bunch of guys, I understand doing that after every play just to be sure would be impractical. I mean if the ball is right next to you anyway, like in some of these clips, you might as well just bend over and pick the thing up. What's the worst that could happen?

[@johnleriger8730]

Brady would have had every single one of these called a dead ball

[@zsazsamorte]

When American Football turns into Rugby 😅

[@matthewlangille5382]

Play till the whistle

[@ThePhysicalReaction]

run, Forrest!

[@jacksonstone9290]

Imagine being Julius Peppers and making a great play forcing a fumble only to have your teammates completely shit the bed and let the team you just forced a fumble on score the easiest TD of their life.

[@mskolnik2]

That last one was very clearly an incomplete pass, dumped to get rid of it. The Ravens had every right to be angry

[@adamrussell658]

1:43 105 yard defensive touchdown!

[@bjgolden304]

U always play to the whistle and at least wait til the whistle to celebrate.

[@chandlerblachut3878]

People saying they need to play the whistle have never been in a stadium during a game

[@JU57US]

Some of these plays are now totally impossible by the rule that the offense cannot advance a fumble by the offense.

[@stevevernon1978]

That is the rule in the last 5 (or is it 2?) minutes of either half (just the 4th quarter?) or on 4th down. Any other time or down, a offensive fumble recovery can INDEED be advanced by anyone on the offensive team, not just the player who fumbled it. And anyway, they still would have regained possesion.

[@AnalogWolf]

If there's no whistle, keep going.

[@albundy6008]

2:50, Burress was more concerned with clowning than winning.

[@Skorpio420]

Rams/Saints one will live forever.

[@jeromemccollom936]

Joey Harrington was so awful that his bad pass attempt actually led to a good gain for the Lions

[@charleslanphier8094]

This is why I never bet on football. Games turn on freak plays no one could predict

[@Paulafan5]

Football is easier to bet on than any other team sport. Soccer or Hockey, a hot goalie or a freak goal changes the outcome. Basketball, a team could get hot from 3 or be ice cold and that's the game.

[@anotherlover6954]

TV resolution was so bad in the 80's it's a miracle people even watched sports. That's what I thought back then, too.

[@o1-preview]

you do realize people would listen to sports games on radio? shitty no color resolution was still better then no video, just audio.. before radio it was just stories..

[@anotherlover6954]

@@o1-preview Imagination has better resolution than 480p.

[@christinef7739]

Not as bad as it looks. These clips are from people who taped the shows on VHS and then later converted them to DVDs and then uploaded them to the Internet. Then this channel grabbed them and made a compilation.

[@anotherlover6954]

@@christinef7739 It's as bad as I remember it.

[@christinef7739]

@@anotherlover6954 Whatever. I'm not going to argue with you, except to say you must have had a crappy TV.

[@AthosRac]

Last one was incomplete!

[@shauncameron8390]

Nah. He lost control of the ball before his arm moved forward.

[@jasonthies9477]

If you see the ball and do not hear the whistle, PICK IT UP AND F***ING RUN!!!

[@inttruders]

The second stupidest thing Plaxico Burress has done.

[@frankbridges2171]

If u don't hear that whistle the play aint dead