England was handed a tough break in the quarters of the 2012 European Cup. The English side had numerous chances to put away a game against Italy, but it lost in penalty kicks.
Kickers. What can you do? The same thing happens in American football, too. An excruciating game comes down to a few kicks. In honor of our English brethren, here are the six biggest kicking blunders in NFL history.
And without further ado ...
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Scott Norwood's miss in Super Bowl XXV
Let's get this out of the way right off the bat; this was not an automatic-kick. This was a 47-yard field goal. So while it would be fair to ignore this kick, you can't, because of its impact on NFL history. How would the Buffalo Bills have been perceived with just one Super Bowl title? How would the New York Giants and Bill Parcells' legacy have been perceived with a loss? Would the Jeff Hostetler mustache ever have caught on? There's a lot of questions here.
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Garo Yepremian's pass in Super Bowl VII
In Yepremian's first NFL game, his coach told him his team lost the coin-toss … Garo dropped to his knees to look for it. Now, that sounds like an urban legend, but it does highlight the lack of football savvy some of the kicking exports had for NFL football in the early years. And really, even if the story is true, it's no worse than his pass, which was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. And yes, it's not technically a kick, but this play makes the list.
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Jason Garrett ices his own kicker, Week 13, 2011
This might be too soon for Dallas Cowboys fans, but with the team driving for a winning score, coach Jason Garrett called a timeout … just moments before Dan Bailey kicked what would have been the go-ahead 49-yard field goal with just seconds remaining. And, well, it was obvious after the first kick went through that the second kick was going to miss wildly.
Anderson was one of the most automatic kickers in the NFL during the 1998 season, being perfect on any attempt. And then the NFC Championship Game happened. Anderson missed a 38-yard field goal, which would have sent the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl; instead, the Atlanta Falcons went. And incidentally, Anderson's miss led to the end of a perfect streak of a different sort; the NFL's Man of the Year, Eugene Robinson, was arrested for an indiscretion the night before the Super Bowl.
If you're ever writing a paper on why excessive celebrations and football don't mix, Gramatica is your case study. Moments after kicking a 43-yard field goal in the first half of a meaningless game against the Giants, Gramatica jumped into the air and landed awkwardly, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament -- probably the most memorable post-kick celebration since Brandi Chastain's. Gramatica's moment of shame has since been surpassed by the L.A. Angels' Kendrys Morales and his celebration injury.
It's not hyperbole to say Vanderjagt's attempt to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers was the most horrific miss in NFL history. Look at it. Honestly, it's hard to determine which side of the field Vanderjagt was aiming at. Peyton Manning had previously derided Vanderjagt for being a 'drunk, idiot kicker,' and that miss seemed like confirmation that he'd been imbibing on the sidelines.
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