28. What memorable thing happened in the 1998 Thanksgiving game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions?
From Quiz NFL in a Decade: #2
Answer:
The referee misunderstood the overtime coin flip, possibly costing the Steelers the game
The game in itself was not remarkable, playing out to a 16-16 tie at the end of regulation. By 1998, overtime games weren't very unusual either. What happened with the routine coin toss to start the overtime was unprecedented however. Referee Phil Luckett tossed the coin into the air. A national TV audience heard Jerome Bettis of the Steelers call "tails." The coin landed tails, Luckett confirmed this, but then went on to award the choice of what to do to the Lions, claiming that Pittsburgh had called "heads." The Lions chose to receive the kickoff and scored, winning the game before the Steelers ever got the ball. Luckett, the Lions, and some in the NFL maintained that a second Steeler had called "heads" while Bettis called "tails," but in the eyes of many in the public, the Steelers had been cheated out of a chance to win the game. In the end, the game's outcome didn't matter, as neither team won again all season. The Steelers, who had been 7-4 and positioned for the playoffs going in to the game, wound up 7-9 for the season. In the offseason, the NFL reinstituted instant replay review of plays, after an absence of seven years, although replay would not have been allowed to overturn Luckett's call of the coin flip.
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