Recently, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shocked many American football fans with an act that might not seem particularly controversial: they continued playing until the game officially ended.
In the final seconds of their game against the New York Giants, the Bucs were behind and almost certain to lose, but not absolutely and inevitably defeated. With the score at 41-34, if the Bucs could get the ball before the clock ran out and manage a touchdown and a successful conversion, they could tie the game or even win outright, depending on the type of conversion.
When the Giants snapped the ball, Tampa’s players rushed forward.
The Bucs broke a taken-for-granted norm in football: they rushed a quarterback who was taking a knee. When a team has possession of the ball in the last moments of a game, the quarterback can run out the clock by holding onto the ball and touching a knee to the ground. When it’s obvious a quarterback is going to do so, the opposing team is expected to acknowledge that the game is effectively over and let the quarterback quickly take a knee without interference.
The Bucs didn’t. They continued playing serious defense. Giants quarterback Eli Manning was knocked backward by his teammates as they tried to protect him from the unexpected rush.
Tampa’s players, and in particular coach Greg Schiano, were widely accused of poor sportsmanship. The Giants’ coach yelled at Schiano on the field and Manning called it a “cheap shot”. Giants’ player Justin Tuck said the Bucs should have refused their coach’s order to carry out what he called a “classless” play.
But NFL officials confirmed that what they did was entirely within the rules of the game. Teams generally take a hands-off approach to a quarterback who is clearly planning to take a knee, but they aren’t actually required to stand around and let him do it unopposed.
And as NPR reported, if we look back a few decades, taking a knee was itself seen as a bit classless. In the 1978 “Miracle at the Meadowlands” game between the Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles, the Giants lost when they fumbled the ball at the last minute. Taking a knee would have ensured a win, but their coach ordered another play because he, like many coaches at the time, saw taking a knee as unsporting, an unworthy way to guarantee victory.
That loss changed the status of taking a knee. No one could believe a team had all but given away a victory. Giants fans were enraged. The coach was summarily fired and never worked in football again.
For coaches, the take-away message was clear. Running a play carried the risk of a last-minute interception and humiliating defeat, possibly followed by the abrupt end of your career. Taking a knee was a sure thing. It quickly became standard procedure. Teams developed formations for use specifically when they plan to take a knee (thus also signaling their intent to the other team). The stigma that remained around taking a knee disappeared; it has been redefined as an acceptable and even expected move. But for it to work — that is, for it to allow a quick end to the game while minimizing the possibility of risk to players (and especially the quarterback) — the opposing team has to play their role in the script and acquiesce to running out the clock.
Tampa’s coach challenged current norms by treating taking a knee as an outcome for the other team to successfully accomplish, not an opposition-less move that requires only a signal of intent. The Bucs’ violation of this norm has been widely condemned. Football fans viewed it as putting players in danger of injury from the unexpected defensive move with very little chance of actually changing the outcome of the game — a likelihood of success low enough that fans I spoke to questioned Schiano’s motives, suggesting he knew he couldn’t win and was actively intending to hurt the other team.
What counts as a “classy” play or a “cheap shot”? Schiano defended his choice by saying he asks his team to play hard for every second of the game, an attitude that might normally be praised. We romanticize the idea of never giving up, of playing as hard as you can against all odds. But because taking a knee has been accepted as reasonable, expected behavior, failure to follow its taken-for-granted script is widely perceived not as a daring move by the defense, but as an unsporting disregard for the spirit of the game.
In a related story, see footage of a middle school football team tricking their opponent into thinking they weren’t playing when they were.
Gwen Sharp is an associate professor of sociology at Nevada State College. You can follow her on Twitter at @gwensharpnv.
Comments 17
Umlud — September 24, 2012
An analogous bit of "unsportsmanlike play" was how the US hockey team tied up the first quarter against the USSR in the 1980 Olympics - in what later became known as "the miracle on ice".
Take a look at the disposition of the Soviet players during the last seconds of the first quarter (starting at the 30 minute mark, http://youtu.be/rmKQdxwBY6M ), and you'll see that - compared to the 40 second mark - the Soviet players were doing what was - apparently - an expected thing at the 2 second mark: start leaving the field of play, since the period was effectively over.
Of course, it turned out to be one of the major turning points of the game (that and changing the Soviet goalie), and the US ended up winning 4-2.
However, I'd imagine that many American football fans (especially Giants fans) don't really want to make the comparison of their socialized expectations of end-of-game play to the 1980 Soviets' socialized expectations of end-of-period play.
Still, if the likely response to the 1980 Soviet Olympic ice hockey team were something along the lines of, "it ain't over 'till it's over," with no one shouting about poor sportsmanship (at least in the US), then the same ought to be said to the Giants: "it ain't over 'till it's over."
Yrro Simyarin — September 24, 2012
Part of the reason for the kneel down "sportsmanship" is that in the kneel down formation, absent a fumbled snap or something absolutely ridiculous happening, it is essentially impossible for the defense to influence the play. Therefore, "trying" is only risking injury - the chances are just too remote. It's not like a running play or an end of half play where there is any sort of legitimate chance of making a difference.
Ivan — September 24, 2012
Goes to show how even with formal rules there's plenty to be socially negotiated regarding the norms of play. Minutes earlier in this game Tampa Bay allowed the trailing NYGs to score a touchdown to take the lead. Why? So Tampa Bay could have more time to recieve the kick-off, try to score, and win the game. The strategy didn't work obviously and set up the now infamous knee taking play. In both strategies, the norms seem to say it's better to play it safe and win then to put on a good show and risk losing. Also, taking a knee has become a right of the winning team. I find this space of unwritten norms regarding sportsmanlike behavior within the confines of male-centered aggressive communities the most fascinating aspect of soc of sports, it's telling of what constitutes the culturally ideal man on a society wide level.
Sheryl — September 24, 2012
If NFL teams actually started playing it might make the games watchable. The last Super Bowl only had about 11 minutes of actual play, spread out over 60 minutes of game time. Compare that to any other professional team sport like basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, all have a much higher percentage of game time being actual play. I applaud Tampa for actually making a game interesting for once.
Patrick — September 24, 2012
What's interesting to me is how the NFL norm differs from the norm in basketball. In basketball, a team down by fewer than ten points in the final minute will almost always foul to stop the clock. The strategy is rarely successful when the team is down by, say, 6 to 9 points, but they do it anyway. Fouling intentionally risks injury. But in basketball, the team with the lead expects this behavior, adapts to it (e.g., by giving the ball to good free-throw shooters and having them assume a protective posture), and does not complain about it.
I'm all for what Tampa did. A 1% chance of victory is better than a 0% chance.
Ina — September 25, 2012
What is "taking a knee"?
As a non-American, that expression sounds really weird to me...
Christian Clarkson — September 25, 2012
Huh. For the opposite reaction to a similar incident, try the 'underarm bowling' incident of 1981. Australia were playing New Zealand in a one-day Cricket international, and were down to the last ball of the game. New Zealand needed a six (i.e. to hit the ball off of the field without it touching the ground, a shot that scores six points) in order to tie the game - a difficult but by no means impossible task. Cricket balls are always thrown overarm, but on this occasion the Australian captain ordered the bowler (his younger brother, incidentally) to throw underarm as if he were bowling in a bowling alley, which would make it impossible to the batsman to get the momentum needed to score a six. This wasn't illegal in one-day cricket but was hugely controversial (famously the older brother of both captain and bowler was commentating on the game at the time and was very upset live on air).
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Batomask — September 25, 2012
As a person who does NOT follow football at all, when I read this I was SHOCKED that "taking a knee" was considered sportsmanlike behavior. It seemed totally classless and UN-sportsmanlike to me. Of course I have not been socialized into the televised football mindset, so as an outsider I have a different perspective on it. But it seems completely not only within their rights as a team, but classy, to keep playing until the game was officially over. And it seems horrible for a quarterback to simply deny the other team a chance to keep l playing. In soccer, fans boo a goalie who keeps the ball too long, slowing down the play so that the other team doesn't get as much of a chance to make a play. They boo him or her because it is sportsmanlike to keep playing no matter how far "down' you are, and to allow the other team to have their chance at the ball. I knew there were reasons I didn't like American football; now I have another one.
Batomask — September 25, 2012
I appreciate Sheryl's comment very much. 11 minutes worth of play spread over 60 minutes of game time, and THAT spread out over 2-3 hours of television (meaning tons of advertising) or eating and drinking, if you are in the stands . And yet fans find it exciting. A fascinating sociological phenomenon, like all sports fandom.
decius — September 25, 2012
Careful review of the replay footage shows that the play almost worked. There were three aspects needed: they had to force a fumble, recover the fumble, and then either run it and score before the play ended, or get the clock to stop with time left on it. They did force the fumble and recovered it, but were unable to pick it up and run with it, nor to have the play blown dead prior to the clock running out.
Savannah — October 1, 2012
If taking a knee had not become a widely accepted and expected norm, would Tampa's decision be criticized? Whether I agree with the players' choice to rush Manning or not, I do think that there wouldn't be so much controversy over this one play if taking a knee wasn't so common. I am all for not giving up until the clock runs out, yet I think there is a balance that should be maintained between trying to win at all costs and being smart about it. Sure, Tampa was just trying to make a last minute effort to win the game, but what they did was risky in the eyes of many spectators and the Giants. This article also brings up the question of what norms can be challenged and why? Obviously this specific challenging of a norm had some negative consequences,which could be because it had the potential for injury, but how do we know which norms can be tested and which ones can't?
Polish translator — November 7, 2012
I love it!!!
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[...] Sociological Images: Interpreting Sportsmanship: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the “Knee” Recently, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shocked many American football fans with an act that might not [...]