GOLD GIFTWRAP CHAMPIONSHIP WITH FINAL SECOND GAFF OF EPIC SCALE
They call it a game of inches, but football can also be a game of seconds, and all it takes is one bad split second decision to change victory into defeat. The Denver Gold learned that lesson the hard way when an attempt to surprise Orlando with a late game pass when overtime was assured turned into an epic disaster and a last-second touchdown that won the game for the Orlando Renegades. Orlando had tied the game only seconds earlier, and it seemed a certainty that the game was headed for overtime, tied up at 27. But Coach Jauron felt that if his Gold squad could fake a fullback dive on what seemed a routine end-of-game clock killer, he could perhaps catch Orlando napping and make a big play and possibly put his club in place for a final second field goal. So, with 16 seconds on the clock, he instructed Mark Brunell to pull the ball out of the gut of Heath Sherman and instead try to hit Dedric Smith on a fly route that he hoped would be uncovered. It was not, and instead of a big gain, Brunell threw into coverage, Orlando strong safety Tyrone Carter read the play all the way, stepped in front of Smith, and the Gold players, coaches and fans watched in horror as their chance to become the first USFL club to ever repeat as champions blew up with each stride Carter took along the sideline on his sprint to the endzone and a 34-27 Orlando win.
Orlando players on the sideline were equally stunned. QB Scott Mitchell, anticipating overtime, was sitting on the sideline with a towel over his head, preparing himself for extra time when he heard the crowd gasp and then erupt as the play developed. “I didn’t see it. I got up and saw my teammates screaming, jumping up and down, and I had to look at the jumbotron to figure out what happened.” said the stunned QB, “It was surreal. I mean that just does not happen.”
On the other sideline the shock quickly turned to tears and even a couple of frustrated slams of helmets onto turf. The Gold had come so close. They had had a lead at 27-24 only seconds before, but Orlando had successfully completed a 2-minute drill to tie the game up. Overtime was certainly ahead. When Peerless Price took the fair catch on the ensuing kickoff, it was assumed Brunell would take a knee, Orlando would not use its last time out, and both teams would prepare for a coin toss. But Jauron had other ideas. “I believed we had time to get a field goal if we could get one big play, and I thought the call was a good one. Clearly it did not turn out our way at all, and that is on me.” said a despondent Coach Jauron in the post-game interview. It is a decision the coach may have to live with the rest of his career, as it produced one of them ost memorable moments in league history.
Coach O’Leary, who benefitted from the big play, was magnanimous in victory.“I feel for Dick. You never call a play imagining that the worst possible outcome is the result. But I am also proud of our guys for playing until the final whistle.” The coach added “We did not assume it was over, we prepared for anything, and when the moment arrived, our guys were ready for it. I am proud of their effort, their football IQ, and their spirit.”
Orlando had not had an easy time with Denver all day, despite the early suspension of star HB Rashan Salaam. Denver had proven resilient, leaning on their defense and the arm of Brunell to build an early 10-0 lead, and then to flip leads with Orlando twice in the final period. Denver had taken what they believed to be the game winning lead (27-24) with 1:33 left to play when Brunell faked out the Orlando D and hit little used TE Jason Gavadzah with a 12-yard TD toss. He had led an earlier drive in the quarter to push Denver to a 20-17 lead with a TD toss to HB Ricky Whittle, only to watch Orlando come right back to regain the advantage at 24-20 when Scott Mitchell found Reidel Anthony for a score, but that was at the 5-minute mark. Surely with only 1:33 the Gold defense, which had sacked Mitchell 5 times on the day and limited the Orlando offense throughout the game, could get the win.
When Denver stopped the Renegades on third down from the 1 yard line, forcing Orlando to go for the tie rather than try to get the win with a 4th and goal play, they resolved themselves to overtime. Coach Jauron, either sensing that his defense was spent and could be vulnerable in overtime, or simply feeling that Orlando had regained momentum, opted not to trust in overtime, but to try to sneak in a big play in the final seconds. We will never know if the Gold could have pulled the game out in extra time, or if Orlando truly had exhausted Denver’s will. As long as we talk about football we can debate that, but we will also remember what we saw this week in Chicago, one of the wildest finishes in pro football history.
The official story will be that Terry Kirby won the Offensive POTG for his 2 TD performance and that Chris Doleman was dominant on the line, earning Defensive POTG for his day harassing Brunell, but for many the true MVP may just be divine intervention, or dumb luck, or the effort of the Renegade defense on a play few in the stadium though would be anything more than a staple kneel down. Whatever we view as the true cause of this game’s incredible ending, Orlando raised up the John Bassett Trophy, their first as a franchise, and after 20 seasons we can still say that no team has ever won back to back titles, though Denver’s performance is certainly the closest we have ever seen. Close, but so painfully far for the Gold.
