Dallas Cowboys' undrafted free-agent running back Phillip Tanner had a pretty memorable night in his Texas team's 20-7 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, Aug. 21 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
With the Cowboys down 17-7 and facing a 3rd-and-1 at the Chargers' 23-yard line with 12:55 left in the fourth-quarter, Tanner took the handoff from backup quarterback Stephen McGee, juked to the left and was met at the line of scrimmage by a pair of San Diego defensive backs; strong safety Steve Gregory and cornerback Marcus Gilchrist.
Yet, the play didn't end there, as Tanner fought both defenders off, intent on still heading to the endzone.
He would make it there, after a fierce and furious run to the left that, after he'd broken the initial tackles, almost looked easy. However, he made it there without his helmet, which he'd shed along with Gregory and Gilchrist back at the line of scrimmage.
Of course, the newly installed NFL rule about such things came into play, as the referee announced to the crowd that since Tanner had lost his helmet the play was immediately ruled dead and the ball was to be placed at the spot where he'd lost it.
While the crowd obviously didn't like this ruling, and probably likes the new NFL rule even less, I have to say it's a pretty smart one. It's a rule aimed at preventing injuries to players whose helmets inadvertently come off during the middle of a play.
After all, the players wear those helmets for a reason, and even with their protection are still occasionally injured severely; so it's quite obvious that if they lose them during the continuation of a play they are even more vulnerable to serious damage to their head.
With the whole controversy about concussions and the long-term damage they can do to NFL players being a major topic of discussion over the past few years—with the NFL striving to tackle the issue head-on—it's no wonder they would institute a rule calling the play dead when a player loses their head protection.
Just a month ago, on July 20, ESPN reported seventy-five former players—a group that includes former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon and Miami Dolphins wideout Mark Duper—are suing the NFL over concussions; which would also make it financially-wise for the league to err on the side of caution.
Still, that probably didn't alleviate any of the pain Tanner must have felt in not being awarded his first NFL touchdown; even if it did only come in a preseason contest. For one thing, it would have brought the Cowboys to within three points of the Chargers with nearly the entire fourth-quarter to go, which may have changed the outcome of the contest.
Nonetheless, it was called back for his safety.
Oh, and one other thing to note about the whole incident is this. The Cowboys were called for an illegal shift—with two players moving on the line when the ball was snapped—so in reality, even if Tanner had kept his helmet on, he still wouldn't have scored.
I'm sure the 6-0, 214 lbs. halfback out of Middle Tennessee State will nevertheless remember this game and that play as the touchdown that wasn't a touchdown.
Hut, hut, hike!
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All stats and information taken from personal notes and verified at Pro-Football-Reference.com, NFL.com, and Yahoo! Sports.
Read more by Daniel Barber aka Hotnuke at TFS Sports.
*Daniel Barber has been a fan of all Miami teams since he was a child or since their inception having been born right above Miami.
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