By Darin This episode delves into the profound impact that pivotal mistakes in American football can have on players' lives, both on and off the field. We examine several notable blunders throughout history, including a heartbreaking moment involving the Baltimore Ravens' rookie kicker, whose misstep in a critical playoff game underscores the immense pressure faced by athletes. The narrative extends to a historical account from 1905, where a young player, Denny Clark, suffered devastating consequences after a game-changing error that ultimately led to his tragic demise decades later. Through this exploration, we seek to illuminate the psychological ramifications of such high-stakes moments and the importance of support systems for athletes navigating these challenges. We aim to foster a deeper understanding of the human element within the realm of competitive sports, emphasizing that while the stakes are high, the players are ultimately human and deserving of compassion and encouragement.
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Transcript
We just uncovered a story so incredible and it's going to blow your mind.
Speaker A:In modern American football, we have seen massive blunders that have cost teams games by having this intense spotlight on the individual.
Speaker A:,:Speaker A:Caleb Johnson earlier in the:Speaker A:And it changed the cold complexion of the game.
Speaker A:Even that.
Speaker A:How about Jackie Smith of the Dallas Cowboys back in Super Bowl 14, dropping a sure touchdown pass in the end zone which may have cost his team a Super bowl championship.
Speaker A:These have been wretched blunders, has been described in many articles but.
Speaker A:But they are not just that.
Speaker A:talk about in this story of a:Speaker A:It's all coming up right after this.
Speaker A:We take you back to the early 20th century.
Speaker A:The Michigan Wolverines under Fielding Hos.
Speaker A:We've talked about him many times on our posts here on Pigskin Dispatch.
Speaker A:int point a minute teams from:Speaker A:e Wolverines happened in late:Speaker A:This game was a slugfest.
Speaker A:Amos Alonzo Stag of the Chicago Maroons University of Chicago team fielding H yos the Michigan Wolverines.
Speaker A:These teams went back and forth a defensive stronghold a year before the forward pass was legal.
Speaker A:These were just brutal attacks of running right up the A gap and you know, the, the runs and the pounding.
Speaker A:But nobody could get a touchdown or a field goal to take a lead in the score until late in the game when something dramatic happened.
Speaker A:In the final 10 minutes of the game, Michigan's Denny Clark tried to return a punt from behind his own goal line.
Speaker A:Well, he was immediately tackled when he tried to run it out.
Speaker A:Got tackled for that safety and that was the whole difference in the game.
Speaker A:Chicago wins the game two to nothing.
Speaker A:The unbeaten streak has ended in the Michigan Wolverines.
Speaker A:Point a minute teams of Fielding Yos on are no more.
Speaker A:That tragic end was so brutal you would think somebody would forget about that.
Speaker A:But Clark took it very difficult and many years later, in almost 27 years to the day, he ended up taking his own life.
Speaker A:And in a suicide note he left.
Speaker A:vercome that last play of the:Speaker A:But he let slip the victory through his fingers in Michigan's.
Speaker A:So that really resonated with him.
Speaker A:A football play, and we can't let that happen.
Speaker A:One nice thing about when the recent game of the Ravens kicker missing the fuel goal, he was really down on himself, you know, as anybody would be, especially a youngster just starting a new job, you know, in his first year on a job.
Speaker A:But he had teammates coming and comforting him, but he also had the opponents right after the game.
Speaker A:There are scenes where Chris Boswell, the kicker of the Pittsburgh Steelers who ended up missing an extra point right before Mr. Luke missed his field goal, came over to console him a little bit.
Speaker A:And then veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers went over there, gave the kid a hug, had some words of encouragement to him.
Speaker A:As he sat by himself on a bench sulking.
Speaker A:Luke lifted his head up just a little bit and you know, there he saw the 21 year veteran, Aaron Rogers.
Speaker A:We need positive role models like that for a positive game.
Speaker A:This is just a game.
Speaker A:We know that people are making their livelihood from it.
Speaker A:There's millions and billions of dollars being bet on this thing.
Speaker A:But when it comes down to it, this is just a game.
Speaker A:This isn't for entertainment.
Speaker A:When it comes to somebody like Denny Clark taking their life, you know, a couple decades after a bad mishap, a bad mistake, it's a terrible thing.
Speaker A:And when any of us do anything, the next mistake certainly will not be our first mistake at it, that's for sure.
Speaker A:We learn on the job sometimes and even jobs that you do for decades, you still make errors because we're all human.
Speaker A:That's part of it, you know, so we have to live with it.
Speaker A:You just have to learn to.
Speaker A:How can you limit and minimize your mistakes and learn from them?
Speaker A:Some food for thought, some football history for you.
Speaker A:Hope you enjoyed this and next time you come back, you'll have some more great football history.
Speaker A:Make sure you check out our Pigskin Dispatch website where we have football history coming at you from all different directions, including our football fix, a daily quote and piece of history, and our daily timelines of football history every day of the year, which includes an image of the day.
Speaker A:That's pigskind dispatch.com I'm Darren Hayes, your host.
Speaker A:Until next time, everybody have a great gridiron day.
Speaker A:That's all the football history we have today, folks.
Speaker A:Join us back tomorrow for more of your football history.
Speaker A:We invite you to check out our website pigskindispatch.com not only to see the daily football history, but to experience positive football with our many articles on the good people of the game as well as our own football comic strip clete marks comics, pigskindispatch.com is also on social media outlets, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and don't forget the BigSkin Dispatch YouTube channel to get all of your positive football news and history.
Speaker A:Special thanks to the talents of Mike and Gene Monroe, as well as Jason Neff for letting us use their music.
Speaker A:This podcast is part of the Sports History Network, your headquarters for the yesteryear of your favorite sport.
Speaker A:You can learn more at sportshistorynetwork.
Speaker A:Com.
