A Rare Fair Catch Free Kick

Last night time expired in the first half after the Chargers had fair caught a punt. There was a penalty on the Broncos. By rule the Chargers could run one more play from the line of scrimmage: the Denver 47 yard line. The Chargers opted for a rare fair catch free kick. The players lined up like a kickoff. Dicker the Kicker booted the ball through the uprights from the line of scrimmage 57 yards aways, and the Chargers received three points.

 

Social media was blowing up about the play. Most don’t know the rule. I first saw a free kick attemped in a Falcons preseason game. Former Chargers QB Dan Fouts called into the TV broadcast to share how he’d convinced head coach Tommy Prothro to attempt the last free kick in Chargers history. I shared a blog post I had written about free kicks over ten years ago. There haven’t been that many successful free kicks. Paul Hornung made one back in the 60’s.

 

I caught last night’s Final Jeopardy. The category was SUPER BOWL HISTORY. I would have wagered everything. The answer: “The only NFL team to play in a Super Bowl before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, that hasn’t been back to the Super Bowl”. Do you know the question?

 

R.I.P. ROCKY COLAVITO [SABR Bio] was the first player in the Modern Era to have both a 4-home-run game and a 7-hit game. The 4 HR/G for Cleveland on 10-Jun-1959 and the 7 hit game for the Tigers on 24-Jun-1962. He was the last 20th-century American League player to hit four homers in a game. He played a full season without a single error, the first qualifying outfielder to do so. In 1965, Colavito played in 162 games, had 274 chances with zero errors. He was standing on first base when he learned that he was the subject one of the most controversial baseball trades of his generation. On 17-Apr-1960, Cleveland traded him to the Tigers for batting champ Harvey Kuenn. When the trade became public, Indians fans were outraged and called it one of the worst in Cleveland sports history, going so far as to say that it cursed the Indians, contributing to or even causing decades of struggles. Colavito always disavowed he existence of a curse or his possible part in it. The original Home Run Derby was filmed in December 1959 in Los Angeles at the west coast’s Wrigley Field - the series aired in syndication from 9-Jan to 2-Jul-1960. It was a precursor to the Home Run Derby held now in conjunction with the annual MLB All-Star Game. When Willie Mays died in June of 2024, Colavito became its last surviving former participant. Coaches knew about his strong arm and twice used him to pitch in games. In his first outing on 13-Aug-1958(2), he tossed 3 hitless innings in relief of Hoyt Wilhelm. On 25-Aug-1968(1) at Yankee Stadium, pitching on ten years’ rest, the Bronx native fulfilled a dream with 2-1/3 more hitless frames against Detroit. After an Al Kaline double, Colavito retired Willie Horton to close the inning. Rocky was once suspended for charging into the stands. During the game on 12-May-1961, Colavito charged into the stands to intervene in a fight between his father and a New York fan, a “drunken bum” in Colavito’s words, who had been harassing Rocky’s wife. AL President Joe Cronin opted not to fine Colavito, saying: “It wasn’t the right thing for the boy to go up into the stands, but I guess it was natural for him to want to help his father.” Colvavito’s fine singing voice was another of his talents.He recorded a few songs, showcasing his baritone voice.

 

DENISON: two astronauts Williams are stuck in space. When they arrived at the International Space Station last June, they were supposed to return home in 8 to 10 days. However, the vessel that transported them developed so many problems that it returned to our planet unmanned, leaving them marooned. Now NASA is reporting the capsule that will bring them home won’t launch until late March 2025 at the earliest.

 

FINAL JEAPORDY QUESTION: who are the New York Jets? I got it right, by the way.