Nov 27 2008
The infamous Thanksgiving Day coin toss
NFL back judge Phil Luckett is the NFL back judge who made history during the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers Thanksgiving Day game in 1998.
Lined up for the overtime coin toss, Steelers captain and running back, Jerome Bettis called “tails”. Everybody at the stadium and at home heard Bettis’ call over the audio except for Luckett.
After Bettis called “tails”, the coin landed tails up.
Luckett: “Heads is the call. He said heads. It’s a tails.”
Bettis: “I called tails!”
Luckett: “No you didn’t”
Luckett awarded the ball to the Lions and the rest is history.
The Lions drove down the field on their first possession and Jason Hanson booted a 43 yard game-winner.
