November 26, 1989: The Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints, 20-17 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Mike Lansford kicks a field goal to win the game in overtime. Jim Everett of the Rams passes for 454 yards, a record 336 of them to Flipper Anderson.
Willie Lee Anderson Jr. was born in 1965 in Philadelphia, and grew up across the Delaware River in Paulsboro, Gloucester County, New Jersey. He got his nickname from his first baby sitter: "She said that when my mother dropped me off, I would cry like a dolphin. She started calling me 'Flipper,'" after the TV show of the same name about a dolphin.
He went across the country to UCLA, where he caught passes from future Hall-of-Famer Troy Aikman. But the Miami Dolphins weren't interested in him. The Rams were, and drafted him in the 2nd round. This was easily the best game of his career, although 40 of those receiving yards came in overtime. So he got 296 yards in regulation.
The 1st big receiving-yards game in NFL history came in 1945, when the Rams were in their last season in Cleveland, on their way to the NFL Championship, and Bob Waterfield threw to Jim Benton for 303 yards. That record stood for 40 years. In 1985, Stephone Paige caught 309 yards worth of passes from Todd Blackledge. Anderson broke that record, which still stands, but Paige still held the record for receiving yards in regulation.
Until 2013, when Calvin Johnson caught 329 yards worth of passes from Matthew Stafford, to help the Detroit Lions beat the Dallas Cowboys. That now stands as the regulation record, but he couldn't quite break the overall record set by Anderson.
That game was Anderson's best as a pro. But it is not the game for which he is most remembered. Six weeks later, the Rams went into the Meadowlands for an NFC Divisional Playoff against the New York Giants, and Everett burned the G-Men with a 30-yard pass to Anderson just 1:06 into overtime to win it for the Rams. In the New York Tri-State Area, it is known as "The Flipper Anderson Game."
Anderson remained with the Rams until 1994, their last season in Los Angeles before beginning their 21-season exile in St. Louis. He played for the Indianapolis Colts in 1995, and the Washington Redskins in 1996, before closing his career with the Denver Broncos in 1997, winning Super Bowl XXXII in his last game.
He now lives in the suburbs of Atlanta, and is a high school basketball referee. I wonder how many fans yell at him, "Hey, ref! You sure you're officiating in the right sport?"
*
November 26, 1989 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played:
* The New York Jets beat the Atlanta Falcons, 27-7 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
* The Washington Redskins beat the Chicago Bears, 38-14 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Miami Dolphins, 34-14 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.
* The Buffalo Bills beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-7 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.
* The Indianapolis Colts beat the San Diego Chargers, 10-6 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.
* The Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 20-19 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Houston Oilers, 34-0 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Seattle Seahawks, 41-14 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Phoenix Cardinals, 14-13 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.
* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the New England Patriots, 24-21 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* Three days earlier, on Thanksgiving, the Detroit Lions beat the Cleveland Browns, 13-10 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* Also on Thanksgiving, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys, 27-0 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the New York Giants lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 34-24 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
There were 3 games in the NBA that day:
* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Chicago Bulls, 120-96 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Ron Harper scored 36 points.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 132-112 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Detroit Lions, 102-82 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.
And there were 4 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* And the Los Angeles Kings and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 3-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
No comments:
Post a Comment