Throwing the ball into the stands

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Throwing the ball into the stands
Started by evan, Jan 08 2014 10:47 AM

5 replies to this topic

#1 evan
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Posted 08 January 2014 - 10:47 AM
I remember back in the 1970s, throwing the ball deep into the stands after scoring a TD was seen as one of the more extreme celebrations, since the players knew they'd be fined for it -- $100 if memory serves.

I remember Pete Banaszak did this as a habit, almost a trademark, and I think Drew Pearson flung his Hail Mary-winning touchdown ball into the stands in Metropolitan Stadium in 1975 (leading to the question -- where is that ball? Was it destroyed by a Vikings fan in a Steve Bartman-like ceremony? Just wondering)

What are your recollections of players throwing TD balls deep into the stands (not just handing it to someone in the front row as is done today, but throwing it as far and as high as they could)?

Who were some of the players who did it?

Was there a first player to do it?

A last player to do it?

I seem to remember the fine was $100, was that right or do you remember a different figure?

Do you know of any interesting stories of the fans who caught the ball (or fought off others to get it)?

#2 Jeffrey Miller
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Posted 08 January 2014 - 11:18 AM
Butch Byrd did it a lot ... Wray Carlton did it in a 1966 game at Houston.

#3 Citizen
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Posted 08 January 2014 - 11:19 AM
I recall a mid-'60s clip of Herb Adderley doing it in a game against the Colts after a pick-six.

#4 luckyshow
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Posted 08 January 2014 - 12:08 PM
How much did the balls cost?

#5 Bob Gill
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Posted 08 January 2014 - 12:20 PM
Jim Marshall did it after his wrong-way run into his own end zone, and I'm sure he regretted it immediately. By the time one of his teammates caught up with him, the ball was in the stands and it was too late to turn around and run it back onto the playing field.

#6 BD Sullivan
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Posted 08 January 2014 - 12:21 PM
During the pre-game for Super Bowl X, Steelers kicker Roy Gerela was practicing his kicking, with some of the balls going into the crowd. One gent, a New Jersey police lieutenant, said a Gerela kick landed in his lap, and before he had a chance to return it, the 5-10, 180 lb. Gerela "assaulted," "laid hold of (him) and with great force and violence" proceded to grab him out of the grandstand. While Gerela admitted going into the stands, he said Franco Harris stopped him from going any further. The quotation marks came from the inevitable lawsuit that the off-duty cop filed, asking $400,000 for physical injury and damage to Pittman's reputation. No indication of the disposition, but I'm going to guess that the cop strongly exaggerated the "violence"; either that, or he was the most pathetic cop ever.

Warren Bankston supposedly restarted the phenomenon in the 1969 opener, when he scored the winning touchdown for the Steelers against the Lions--the only win that season in Chuck Noll's first year. Bankston's reason for doing so was that his brother had traveled from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh for his first game as a pro and he was trying to throw it to him, which I doubt was a success.

[SixtiesFan]

I recall a lot of players throwing the ball in the stands after touchdowns in 1968 college football games. It seemed to be a fad that year. I recall a highlight clip of Oklahoma's Steve Owens tossing the ball in the stands after a big TD.

In 1965, a sophomore at the University of Tennessee named Walter Chadwick would throw the ball in the stands after scoring a TD. The coaches told him to stop the next year and Chadwick stopped scoring touchdowns. In his senior year of 1967, the Tennessee coaches let him throw the ball in the stands and Chadwick started scoring again.

Walter Chadwick in 1965 at Tennessee was the first player I saw do it.

[sheajets]

Elway I believe did it in 1991. Threw the ball to a handicapped fan. Elway was later fined by the league for tossing the ball into the stands.