- Bob Gibson (football coach)
Bob Gibson is a former
American football coach who coached for theNew York Giants in theNational Football League (NFL). Gibson was theoffensive coordinator who called the play that resulted in "The Miracle at the Meadowlands " in 1978. Playing their arch rival thePhiladelphia Eagles the Giants were leading 17–12 and had possession of the ball with only 30 seconds left.Katz, Michael. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50716FE355C12728DDDA90A94D9415B888BF1D3 20 Seconds Left As Eagles Win; Jets Bow; Todd Reinjured] , "The New York Times",November 20 ,1978 , accessedMarch 18 ,2007 . ] They had only to kneel the ball to end the game, as the Eagles had no time outs. Gibson ordered Giants quarterbackJoe Pisarcik to run play "pro 65 up", which called for Pisarcik to hand the ball off to fullbackLarry Csonka . The handoff was botched and Eaglescornerback Herman Edwards picked up the loose ball and ran in for the game winning score.Gibson's reasoning was governed by what happened a play earlier. Pisarcik had taken a knee, only to be knocked over when the Eagles'
Bill Bergey charged into Giants' centerJim Clack . This violated an unwritten rule that defensive players do not rush in a situation when the quarterback kneels down. Gibson didn't want to risk getting Pisarcik injured or expose his players to penalties or fines for fighting. However, he didn't explain this to the players, and it came across as a power trip. Head coachJohn McVay 's headphones weren't working, and he later said that he would have overruled Gibson had he known what was happening.Gibson was fired the next morning due to the furor over the call and never worked in football again.
ee also
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History of the New York Giants (1925-1978) References
External links
* [http://www.nfl.com/news/story/6827118 Miracle of Meadowlands turns 25] , article on the play on
NFL.com
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