ceremonial first pitch in terms of comedic levity …
but at game speed.
Fifty years ago, during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl VII in the Los Angeles Coliseum, Miami Dolphins’ coach Don Shula dispatched his 5-foot-7 kicker, Garo Yepremian, out to put a wrap on a 17-0 season by kicking a field goal against the Washington Redskins to make the score 17-0.
To say things went a tad askew is an understatement.
touchdown – in the Super Bowl – to the opposition.
Yepremian’s kick was blocked by Bill Brundige and wound up back in the diminutive kicker’s hands. His ensuing attempt at a pass was truly dreadful and then, for reasons known only to Yepremian, he attempted to bat the pass out of bounds but rather it wound up in the hands of Washington’s Mike Bass who returned it 49 yards for a touchdown.
That Miami held on to win the game allows all parties (except Washington) to look back on this incident and laugh. Here is a terrific look at the life of Yepremian from Sports Illustrated‘s Jon Wertheim
We’d love to share the video of the sequence but, alas, the NFL has that baby on lockdown. The best we can do is provide this link to the footage.
We do have video of 50 Cent‘s errant first pitch, referenced in this week’s clue, before a 2014 New York Mets’ game.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you by the early kickoff on Sunday.