Here at Sports Kings/War Room Sports, we went brainstorming in the past and present for the best iconic moments in football. Our goal is to feature players who have wowed us with their signature move that fans all over have talked about, mimicked, or can tell you where they were when the incident happened. We will use Terrell Davis for example. Do you remember the Mile High Salute? Well if you were a Denver Broncos fan or hater, you saw it plenty during their Super Bowl run in the late ’90s. The Mile High Salute indicated the Broncos way of celebrating one of their many touchdowns. There are 40 iconic moments that were chosen. They are not in any particular order.
40. Terrell Davis Mile High Salute
38. Michael Irvin’s First down Salute I can’t remember who was the first to celebrate a first down but you knew when it was 3rd and 9, Troy Aikman was going to hit Irvin with that ten yard slant. First and ten Cowboys!
37. Walter Payton’s Bulldozing Over Defenders & Jumping Over the Top Of The Pile. Sweetness, now that’s funny, Walter Payton was everything but SWEET! He was probably pound for pound the most physical mixed with athletic running back the game had ever seen.
36. T.O. SMH! The Star, Popcorn, Sharpie, Pom Pom Terrell Owens brought WWF to football. Since the NFL only marketed the great Peyton Manning, Terrell promoted himself better than anyone else. Besides no one loves T.O more than T.O!
35. Shawn Merriman’s Lights Out Dance Shawn Merriman perfected the Mark Gastineau sack dance representing the Charger’s bolt. Just when he made his niche as a sack master father time set in soon after.
34. Peyton Manning’s Cadence I always got tickled when Peyton barked out his cadence. You would see defenses change their call, for what? We all know Peyton is throwing the ball! Nevertheless, Peyton hike the ball please!
33. Deion “Prime Time” Sanders Showboating Prime Time, Prime Time, Prime Time! Did anyone have more swag than #21. You knew if you Deion was at corner then his whole side of the field was covered.
32. The Eddie Lacy Spin Move Eddie Lacy is probably the only back in history that enjoyed the spin move drill in practice. Lacy’s looks like a human pinball machine.
31. Bo Jackson’s 91 Yard Touchdown vs Seattle Seahawks Damn you Bo, how could you be the one to end Brian Bosworth’s football career! Hmmm, just think Bo was one time a marketing machine. I wonder who’s our Bo Jackson today?
30. The Mack Brown’s Clap! If you are a Texas Longhorn fan shouldn’t we be clapping at Mack Brown’s resignation? After losing out on RGIII, Andrew Luck, Johnny Manziel, and Jameis Winston. Job well done Mack!
29. 1993 Buffalo Bills Greatest Comeback Against Houston Oilers Houston Oilers up 35-3 and Buffalo Bills are without Jim Kelly at the helm. Here comes backup quarterback, Frank Reich with a second half surge throwing for 21 of 34 pass completions for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 1 interception.
28. Desmond Howard’s Heisman Pose Desmond probably got the Heisman for the simple fact he posed better than the Heisman himself!
27. Jim Mora “Playoffs?” Don’t you just love meltdowns, does anyone even remember if they ever won a again?
26. John Elway’s Helicopter Run Of all the highlights John Elway has been a part of, his helicopter
run signifies a Super Bowl victory.
25. Robert Brooks’ Lambeau Leap I’m sure there were many of Packers before Brooks that leaped into the land of Cheese heads but I can’t think of one that did it before Brooks. I’m sure some Packer historian can tell me who was the first.
24. Cam Newton’s “Superman” Is Cam really Superman? Not only does he have a S on his chest. He now wears Superman socks. Thank the Lord he’s winning football games now.
23. Franco Harris’ Immaculate Reception All I can say is in the right place at the right time but what was the big deal, they lost to the undefeated Miami Dolphins a week later.
22. Jamal Anderson’s “The Dirty Bird” What was once the Bird by Morris Day and the Time. Then comes Jamal Anderson with his touchdown celebration and it was a little bit on the dirty side.
21. Dennis Green’s “Meltdown!” Yep, I agree Dennis your Cardinals did let the Bears off the hook, epic but not quite the greatest meltdown.
20. Jim McMahon’s Headband You had to love Jim McMahon being ornery, he was the bad boy of sports. Without Jim McMahon pushing buttons you may not have a T.O. or a Chad Johnson.
19. Michael Strahan’s Sack Record So who really cheapens this sack record, Brett Favre or Michael Strahan? I guess if you are going to give it to me, I have to take it, right?
18. Eric Dickerson’s Goggles & Neck Brace For those who don’t know what Eric hairdo was back in the day was, it was the Jheri Curl. The Curl also signified coolness to go along with the goggles and neck brace. Everything Dickerson did was cool, heck he even ran cool!
17. Dwight Clark “The Catch against the Cowboys” That catch ended the Cowboy reign in the NFC and started a dynasty for the 49ers. Is that when the two-minute drill all started. Joe Montana to Dwight Clark!
16. Lynn Swann’s Circus Catch I guess it’s pick on Cowboys day! Yes it’s Lynn Swann and one of his epic Super Bowl catches. Okay it was spectacular!
15. Mike Singletary’s “Intense Eyes” Is it me or did running backs just fall down after the Singletary stare at them?
14. Jerry Jones On The Sidelines No one complained when the Cowboys were winning but heck that was 16 years ago! Then again if my team was worth close to 2 billion dollars I would be on the sidelines too!
13. Tony Dorsett’s 99 yard touchdown run This happened on Monday Night Football January 3, 1983. This record will always be intact, it can only be tied.
12. Tom Brady’s “Tuck Rule” This play started all this Patriot Dynasty BS! Of all teams getting screwed, DA RAIDERS! Between the Tuck Rule and Spygate……… Equals a New England Patriot Dynasty. Spygate wasn’t included but probably should have been.
11. David Tyree’s Super Bowl Catch David Tyree should have been given a second Super Bowl ring for this catch. One from the NY Giants and a second one from the ’72 Miami Dolphins. His catch led to the winning catch by Plaxico Burress. He kept New England from the perfect season of 19 – 0. Heck no love afterwards, Tyree didn’t make the squad the following season.
10. “Steve Tasker’s Hustle Play “Super Bowl XXVII” “Leon Lett” Oh Leon, if only people knew how dominant of a defensive tackle you were, but blunders like this and who could forget the Thanksgiving Day when you touched that blocked kick!
9. Keyshawn Johnson’s “Give Me The Damn Ball” Perfect title for a starving wide receiver. Funny how Wayne Chrebet was getting the ball instead!
8. Kordell Stewart’s Hail Mary Throw To Michael Westbrook It was Kordell’s only highlight of his football career. As for Michael Westbrook, I can only remember him giving his former Redskins teammate Stephen Davis a can of whoop a$$!
7. Pat Summerall & John Madden The pair was a very entertaining. Pat Summerall’s voice, I can hear it now giving True Value Hardware some love and Madden, I can envision him drawing plays on the tv monitor.
6. Mike Gundy’s “I’m A Man I’m 40!” Thank God for 40, I’m finally a MAN!
5. Chicago Bears “Super Bowl Shuffle” The big bad Bears pulled this one-off. I remember having to do this same bit in choir back in junior high school. They came, saw, and kicked a$$ while doing the shuffle.
4. Herm Edwards “You play to win the game!” The best meltdown to this point. Who has more charisma than Herm Edwards? Great motivator, like him even more on ESPN
3. “The Drive” Denver vs. Cleveland The Drive was only the start. It wasn’t the Cleveland Browns that was haunted by John Elway. It was Marty Schottenheimer who was being tormented. After Marty left Cleveland for Kansas City, Elway picked on him for another decade in KC.
2. Joe Namath’s Super Bowl guarantee Namath’s Super Bowl guarantee gave the American Football Conference some legitimacy. Don’t hear too many bold predictions anymore.
LeRoy McConnell of A Fan’s Point of View, for War Room Sports
