You’re probably not going to find many memories of Super Bowl 48 hanging around the walls of the Denver Broncos facility. You won’t likely find any moments commemorating Gary Anderson’s missed field goal in the 1998 playoffs if you tour the Vikings‘ facility. You’re not going to find a freeze frame of the pass interference that wasn’t called against the Rams as the Saints watched their hopes of reaching the Super Bowl fizzle. But if you visit the Las Vegas Raiders’ facility?
Well, if you visit the Raiders facility, you’re going to find the “Tuck Rule” inexplicably immortalized on the walls.
There was a video circulating around social media involving new Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo, who was touring the facility when he apparently comes upon a piece of artwork depicting the infamous “Tuck Rule” play, a play that changed the game forever. It didn’t end well for the Raiders, but it certainly changed the game.
Jimmy Garoppolo sees a photo of Tom Brady in the Tuck Rule Game.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 23, 2023
"It was a fumble. It was a fumble."
Jimmy G fitting right in with Raider Nation.
(video via @Raiders)pic.twitter.com/BUG7gRi6qx
As Garoppolo approaches the painting, he laughs and states, “It was a fumble. It was a fumble.”
No doubt, Garoppolo is doing his part to endear himself to Raider Nation with those comments, but the story here is not that the new QB1 in Las Vegas admitted this play was a fumble (which by today’s standards, it would be). What’s staggering about this video is the fact that there is any evidence of this play in the Raiders’ facility whatsoever.
It’s a cool painting, sure. It would be weird if it were in the Patriots’ facility as well. I don’t think anyone should be super proud of this moment as it wasn’t a good look for the NFL, it’s a horrible memory for the Raiders, and people consider this an asterisk moment for the Patriots.
For the Raiders, the “Tuck Rule” is about as sentimental as “We were on a break!” is for Ross and Rachel in Friends.
Knowing that it was a fumble doesn’t change history for the Raiders. Is this the franchise’s crowning achievement in the modern football era? That they “should have” beaten the Patriots in this game? It didn’t happen. It’s certainly a milestone moment in NFL history.
The “tuck rule” itself became a thing in 1999 for the NFL:
"NFL Rule 3, Section 22, Article 2, Note 2. When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble."
The controversial rule was abolished by the NFL in 2013 after a league vote that included just one opposition (Steelers) and two teams that abstained from voting completely (Patriots, Washington). I guess the Raiders are just happy now to know that, after all that time and after all those debates about whether or not it was a fumble, they were right.