Thursday Play Of The Day

This was the Play Of the Day (POD) for our Thursday on August 16, 2007:

Max gets the Play Of The Day from last Thursday for an unbelievable catch. It was fourth and long with his team about 15 yards short of a first down. Max ran just beyond the midfield and turned around as the ball was thrown.

The ball was a bullet to him but it was very low and somehow, miraculously, he caught the ball with his ankles! Trapped between his ankles, he reached down to ensure that the ball did not hit the ground. Max gave his team new life with an astounding catch and for that he earns the Play Of The Day.

Saturday Play Of The Day

This was the Play Of the Day (POD) for our Saturday on August 13, 2007:

On a play in which he and his teammate were doing crossing routes, Tyler looked to be the guy who was going to draw the coverage. But the ball was thrown as both Tyler and his teammate crossed in the middle of the field and it glanced his teammate, bounced off a defender between them, and then found its way to Tyler but way behind him.

With his momentum carrying him away from the ball, Tyler reached back with his right arm and corralled the ball and brought it into his arms as he turned upfield. He weaved through some additional traffic till he got in the clear, then dashed to the end zone for the score and the Play Of the Day.

Thursday Play Of The Day

This was the Play Of the Day (POD) for our Thursday on August 9, 2007:

The ball was picked off and the defender, avoiding defenders and skillfully using some great blocks,  swiftly criss crossed the field, twice, in his quest for the end zone. But finally, cornered and about to be tagged, he no-look pitched the ball behind his back, over a crowd of three people to Faison, who had to jump for the ball to return possession to his team.

When the play looked dead, Faison kept his head in the game and made a great play on the ball to end a wild change of possessions.

Saturday Play Of The Day

This was the Play Of the Day (POD) for our Saturday on August 4, 2007:

Three receivers were lined up on the left and one receiver was lined up on the far right. The three receivers on the left did five yard stop routes and the receiver on the right did an eight yard stop route. Seeing the congestion, one of the receivers on the left cut across on a drag route.

But Sam was playing middle linebacker and like a puma on the prowl, he sniffed out something in the breeze. Reading the play perfectly, he pounced as soon as the ball left the quarterback’s hand, cut in front of the receiver coming across the field, snagged the ball out of the air, and trotted in for an easy score.

Thursday Play Of The Day

This was the Play Of the Day (POD) for our Thursday on August 2, 2007:

It was a case where the receiver knew exactly what his quarterback was thinking. On the first play from scrimmage Marcus, lined up near the far right sideline, took off like a flash at the snap. After waiting a few seconds Andre tossed a long spiral downfield. Marcus tracked the ball perfectly over his shoulder and arms stretched out, took the ball in softly without breaking stride for a one play touchdown drive.

The play was over before you knew it but it was a thing of beauty to behold. And for that, Marcus gets Play of the Day.

Saturday Play Of The Day

This was the Play Of the Day (POD) for our Saturday on July 21, 2007:

Rob Wilson gets Play Of the Day for going up and coming down with a pass that was fought over by two other players. The defender on the play was perfectly positioned to break up the play and got his hand on the ball to knock it away. But Wilson and his teammate KT went up for the ball at the same time as the defender, with both clamping onto the ball, as well. As they came down, it was KT and Wilson who had the ball and both were still fighting for it, not realizing that they were teammates. After a moment of struggle, KT realized who Rob was and let go of the ball so Wilson could take it to the house.

Special mention has to go to Delicious for his body of work on Saturday. Not only did he catch numerous balls by finding the open spot in the zone, he threw a handful of crucial blocks to spring teammates for scores or long gains and he picked off a few balls as well, scoring on one of them.

Thursday Play Of The Day

This was the Play of the Day for our Thursday evening on July 19, 2007:

Maurice got Play of the Day last Thursday for putting himself in a position to make a great play. On forth and long, his quarterback heaved the ball long and high and the defender looked to have an easy pick but he mis-timed his leap and instead of coming down with the ball, tipped it instead.

Seeing he had no play on the ball, Maurice positioned himself close enough to catch the defender had he intercepted the ball but far enough away to make a play for the tip, which he did, easily, and turned to dash to the end zone for a score with the defender never having a chance to catch him.

Saturday Play Of The Day

This was the Play of the Day (POD) for our Saturday on July 14, 2007:

Dave From The Block gets Play of the Day  for an amazing play that could have been split in two and either half could have won POD. From deep in their own territory, Dave’s quarterback lofted a long pass down the right sideline at around the fifty yard line. Dave was in position, but so was his defender. The ball was coming down on the out-of-bounds side of the sideline and was slightly underthrown.

Dave reached out with his right hand and tipped the ball up and over the defender and further downfield, maneuvered around his defender, and reached out  with his left hand to tip the ball back into his arms.

But Dave was not done. Not by a long shot.

After reeling the ball in, he slanted across field to the left sideline, found a blocker and slowed to follow for several yards until the blocked defender got an angle on him, then cut to the right downfield and, seeing his defender closing in, with an effort worthy of Randy Moss himself, no-look pitched the ball behind his back to an oncoming James, who took it in stride to the end zone.

Thursday Play Of The Day

This was the Play of the Day for our Thursday evening on July 12, 2007:

James took the Play of the Day yesterday with a patented James play. Catching a short pass in the left flat, and with a defender approaching from that side of the field, he slanted to the right sideline with that defender in hot pursuit. With the defender closing in and seemingly forcing him out of bounds, James stopped on a dime just short of the sideline and cut back to the middle of the field using the momentum of both his pursuer, and a second defender who had come to offer support, against them and raced untouched to the left corner of the end zone for a score.

Football Deception

Aside from a game on my birthday when I had a game where I picked a couple of interceptions and had a punt return for a touchdown–something I’d never done before and haven’t done since–I can’t remember a play I’ve been able to savor for so long than the one I had the Wednesday before Christmas during a league touch football game with City Sports Connection.

The best thing about my play was that not only did I not score on the play, I didn’t even touch the ball.

The play was designed for The Veteran as the primary receiver. He was to run a ten-yard out pattern on the right side. I was lined up as the slot receiver on the same side and it was my job to run a fly pattern to pull the safety with me and away from The Veteran.

I burst off the line, huffing and pufing, selling the bomb. The safety bought what I was selling, turning his back to the play and running with me stride for stride. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed out of the corner of my eye that The Veteran had caught his out route and had turned up field, having beat his defender.

All that stood betwen him and the end zone was my defender and I. So my job turned into keeping my defender as far away from The Veteran as possible. Toward that end, I started waving my right hand, as if to signal to my quarterback that I was open. My defender bought it, turning his running up a notch.

The guy followed me for another 15 yards when I noticed him turning his head to look back, so I stretched both arms out in front of me, pinkies touching, as if to catch the ball over my shoulder. That bought me enough attention from the defender to bring him down to about the 10 yard line. At that time I noticed him starting to look backfield again, so I stuck my right arm around him, as if I was trying to catch a poorly-thrown ball with one hand. That made him pay attention to that move and bought The Veteran just enough time to slip into the end zone before my defender figured out that The Vet had the ball.

"David, you ROCK!" The Vet said as he crossed into the end zone.

One of the great things about playing sports, is when you make a great play, you’ve got the memory of that play to carry around with you until the next great play. Conversely, bad plays can haunt you in just the same way.

And that is why it helps to play as often as I do; currently, three times a week: Wednesday and Thursday in league games, and our normal year-round Saturday pick up touch football game.

So, I’ve been carrying around the memory of this play for longer than normal because we only had four people show up last Saturday, Christmas Eve; any plays I made are mitigated by the fact that with two-on-twos, it’s easy to make plays.

But some plays, like my aforementioned punt return, will stand out for a long time to come. The deception play will be one of those that will bring a grin to my face every time I think of it.