During his time with the Minnesota Vikings, Marshall was involved in what is considered by many, including SI author John Rolfe,[6] to be one of the most embarrassing moments in professional sports history. On October 25, 1964, in a game against the San Francisco 49ers, Marshall recovered a fumble and ran 66 yards with it the wrong way into his own end zone. Thinking that he had scored a touchdown for the Vikings, Marshall then threw the ball away in celebration. The ball landed out of bounds, resulting in a safety for the 49ers. According to Marshall, when he approached Vikings head coach Norm Van Brocklin afterwards, Van Brocklin, after a pause, said, Jim, you did the most interesting thing in this game today.[citation needed] Despite the gaffe, the Vikings won the game 27–22, with the final margin of victory provided by a Carl Eller touchdown return of a fumble caused by a Marshall sack. Marshall later received a letter from Roy Riegels, infamous for a wrong-way run in the 1929 Rose Bowl, stating, Welcome to the club.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 12:34:55 +0000