Illustration by Alex Nabaum
It's the greatest moment in college football history, known simply as The Play.
Nov. 20, 1982. The John Elway-led Stanford Cardinal hold a 20-19 lead over the Cal Golden Bears. With four seconds left Stanford kicks off, and Cal starts the unlikeliest of comebacks. It begins with one lateral, and as the Bears near the endzone, it looks like one of the Cal players, Mariet Ford, is down. All 144 members of the Stanford marching band run onto the field celebrating, thinking the game is over. But Ford is still up, and he presses on, lateraling the ball blindly over his right shoulder to a teammate who charges his way through the band, toppling a trombone player as he pushes into the endzone for a Cal win.