Chargers kicker Nick Novak reminded us Sunday just how unpredictable live television can be, although we can't say we were pleased with what we witnessed.
One minute and 34 seconds remained in the fourth quarter of a 13-13 game between the Chargers and Broncos, when San Diego's offense prepared to take the field in hopes of a go-ahead or winning score. In any instance, it's a perfect time to start discussing the kicker's career-long field goal. And when booth announcers Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts began doing this, CBS naturally decided to air footage of Novak on the sideline.
One problem: Novak was in the middle of relieving himself (yes, that was a grown man peeing on live TV).
Like us, we're sure that's the last thing the crew in the production truck expected to see, but nevertheless, the camera man filmed Novak as he squatted next to the bench, in front of the Gatorade buckets, with an intern, we presume, holding a towel to block anyone's view of Novak while he went No. 1.
If you saw it, you probably were as stunned as we were, but in Novak's defense, there's no way he could risk running to the locker room with so little time for the Chargers to potentially drive into field-goal range. It was just a bad time for nature to call.
Can you say nerves? To boot, it seems Novak didn't flush out all of them, either, as he later missed a 53-yard field-goal attempt that would have won the game in overtime. Instead, the Broncos used the short field to set up the winning field goal on their next drive.
