Special Teams: 4th & 26

special teams that took place in them. Last week we did the Music City Miracle and this week, well, I just have three words for you. Fourth and twenty six. Every Eagles fan is smiling. Every Packers fan is going uh.

January eleven, thousand and four NFL playoff game between the Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles, in which the Eagles converted one of the most famous players in NFL history a fourth and twenty six pass from Donnan McNabb to Freddie Mitchell, where all the Packers had to do was defend on one play. They were winning this game. Brett Farve was moving on in the playoffs, but instead the Eagles used that as a springboard to tie the game late in

the fourth and win it in overtime. We're to look back at this game and the drama from both sides and what it meant for the Packers and what it meant for the Eagles. But this two thousand three, two thousand and four playoffs was really a sweet spot of NFL crazy because we had some of the more entertaining playoff games in recent memory. In this playoffs you had that big Panthers Rams game where Steve Smith scores a big touchdown, and overtime you had Tommy Maddox out dueling

Kelly Holcomb. You know, I mean, seriously, Tommy Maddox outdueling Kelly Holcomb in a big game that the Steelers won. Thirty six thirty three, the last Brown's playoff game, And I mean this was crazy, and fourth and six was the one that stands on top of all of them. When when you you just mentioned the quarterbacks, uh and play there that it really uh just takes you back to a different time and you start going into your NFL lore and just remember this is the time where

you have the explosiveness of some of the passing attacks. Right, We've seen it in blips. Just remember, you know, two thousand three, two thousand four. Suddenly the leader boards looked a lot different with with the the augmented passing numbers, and when you're watching, you know Brett Farves still winging around haphazardly. Just how different the game was still as well? Right, just we talked about these luminaries, but you go back

and you watch each hit looks more violent. And the quarterbacks, you know, just we're winging the ball and not worrying about their qbr uh this game? How did the teams get there? Well, the Philadelphia Eagles, led by Andy Reid, they were in the middle of their big run with Donna mcnabbic quarterback. They were the number one seed in the NFC. They won the NFC East. They were twelve and four. You know, they started out oh and two,

but then they won nine straight games. Brian Westbrook had that very famous punt return for a touchdown in the final minutes against the Giants, and the Eagles, to a man all say that play really spurred us on this season. The Deuce Staley was the big running back back then, but he held out, so by the time he came in, it was Deuce Staley, Westbrook and Correll buck Halter. They

had three headed monster. I remember having buck Halter on a fantasy team, you know, and and actually starting him for a few weeks because he was good at the goal line. Right, this is where you had a three headed monster in the backfield, and that by committee term came into our fantasy lexicon, one of those things where you draft Doo Stale and you go, oh, man, he held out. Now he's not getting the carries. Why is Staley sitting this series in Westbrook? Who's Carrel buck Halter?

Why is he in the game? Well, and look at the side some buck Halter compared to the rest of these he looked like a giant when he was standing in the backfield. Uh, Donna McNabb. This was not one of his greatest starts to the season. It was kind of rocky, and there was a big push for a J. Feely to play. Remember McNabb's relationship with the Eagles and

their fans was always kind of an arms length. They loved them, and then when he threw an incomplete pass, they hated him and wanted him out of the game. But a J. Feely, who was a pretty good backup, then you know, the teams wanted the fans wanted to see him playing. Their offense was really struggling. No wide receivers caught a touchdown the first half of the season. And this is not just a Donna McNabb thing, but

the Eagles wide receivers were pretty bad. I mean Freddie Mitchell, who we're going to talk about a lot in this podcast because he caught the fourth and twenty six play. I mean, this is Freddie Mitchell and Todd Pinkson and James Thrash. I mean, what what do you expect Donna McNabb to do. None of these guys were any good. It was all right, let's just try to move on. But it's all McNab's fault. No, Eventually, you need a wide receiver to have more than, you know, half an

inch of separation from the defensive back. Yeah. That as we watched in the twenty nineteen season with Tom Brady uh in his final year with the New England Patriots, Like you need you need a little bit of help. You can point to the quarterback and get after him all you want. There there is something to be said for creating a little bit of separation. The anticipatory nature of things is where you know, McNabb was always good

about utilizing the tight end position well as well. But yeah, he he was always a guy that seemed under fire, and part of that is Philadelphia lore and unrealistic expectations. Brian Westbrook tears his biceps Week seventeen against Washington, so they lose him for the playoffs. However, the Philadelphi Eagles do get a buy the first round of the playoffs, so they are waiting to see who they're going to play now. The Green Bay Packers road to this game

was a little bit different. Mike Sherman was the head coach. They finished ten and six. They won the NFC North this season, mainly known for Brett farve yard four touchdown performance the day after his dad, Herv died of a heart attack. Very famous Monday night football game where Farv decided to play and he goes, balls out, throws over three yards in the first half and they just crushed the Raiders. That's part of a four game win streak

the Packers had to end the season. They were six and six, they ended ten and six, and they're back in the playoffs and the Packers are hot. I'm on green This was his best season with Green Bay ran for eighteen hundred yards over five yards per carry. He was fantastic. You had three good wide receivers and Donald Driver Javon Walker. Remember Robert Ferguson was even catching big

passes Packers back then. And Antonio Freeman was there, but at this point Freeman was kind of passed his prime, but still he was someone there that Farv could rely on. So they had a lot of depth at wide receiver. They had a great running back. It was almost one of those times where you could see this team and go, Okay, they're peaking at the right time and they're gonna go hot night through better through the playoff, doesn't matter who

they play, because look how red hot they are. Look at everything they can do on offense, and that's good. I thought that was gonna happen. I never thought the Eagles are gonna win this with ball game. I said, all Packers got this far is hot coming off the emotion. The Packers are still riding that high. Yeah, they're gonna go through there, going to the super Bowl. Well, when you look at I think this is always a great

example when we do these special teams. Look back, you know in the time where people are going in and doing the retro binge watching great games, the last dance, and you recognize how good, uh, certain players were or what a team brought to the table, and you recognize how good I'm on Green was. I mean, look at a guy that's you know, two thousand total yards you know, back at this time, and the the the different players in the receiving corps. Maybe not the superstar, but depth

that you get to work through, uh. And it's tough to replicate those things these days. Man salary caps for a lot of that two or three guys commit to you know, most of your money on one side of the ball. And then let's say, all right, what can we get the end of the draft or a guy that's you know, worn out is welcome somewhere else. So the Packers end of the playoffs as kind of the team of destiny, they had really short up their run defense.

They got Grady Jackson off the waivers middle of the season, and they started allowing like thirty yards less rushing per games. Suddenly they figured it all out, big old Grady Jackson. Their playoff win was the now famous overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks, in which Matt Hasselbeck, who had been far as backup, was now the starting quarterback for the Seahawks. They had the opening coin flip for the play for the overtime and the Seahawks win, and the referee says, okay,

the Seahawks win. What do you want? What do you want? And Matt Hasselbeck yells into the referees Mike the now famous we want the ball and we're gonna score. And seventeen years ago man on the first possession of overtime, Matt Hasselbeck throws touchdown pass to Al Harris of the Packers, who returns at fifty two yards for a touchdown. The pick six sends the Packers onto Philadelphia and end the season for the Seahawks. And I remember seeing going, how

is Matt Hasselbeck gonna put his head out of his house? Uh? And for the next ten years. We want the ball, We're gonna score, And I throw a pick six and Al Harris runs it back for a touchdown. To me? But how great was that? Though? Didn't you love hassleback even though it went the other way? I just that I was always a hassleback fan was from that day. I think I could probably still find a healthy stack of hassleback cards amongst my football memorabilia in the house,

just based on that. See, I liked his swag. I wasn't so much because I remember having him in fantasy a couple of times, and he never really came through. Has had him at the wrong time. It's hey, if if you take a player and he scars you in fantasy, you'll never forgive him. No, that's true. There's always that undraftable list. Well, we'll be working on that for fantasy. You know, certainly for me that the extra thing was

the Packers or the opponent in that game. And you know, being a Chicago boy, Uh, certainly there was a little bit of animus, you know, because I also had a Jaworski jersey and an Eagles bike as a kid. Did you really Yeah, so when you got to the Eagles later, that was that was you know, your your cheer in there. But certainly Hasselbeck, you know, was the first beneficiary. Yeah. No, I don't know why. And you know, all these years later I tried to ask my mom. It's like, didn't

make any sense. It was like what you could buy at the Sporting Good story I think that might have been in all the Bear stuff. It was either you know, full price or sold out. I love you, but not enough to buy you a full price you really if you were able to get a different team for half off. Look,

there's pictures of my younger brother and Raiders gear. That's like, you know, you know what your family must look like like when when a star sign somewhere for the last year of their career and they look really weird in the uniform. That must be what it looks like. Look at my brothers in a Raiders uniform. I got an Eagles bike. No, it's weird. You go back and you look at some of the pictures as kids, it's like

there were still Bear stuff around. But it's like there's me with an Eagles jersey on why the hell is he wearing? And for a while, my little brother would wear a Packers you know, he had a Lynn Dickey jersey. That wow, But that's got to be Harris. You can't wear a Packers jersey if you're a Bears fan. If you're really young, alright, okay, you're if you you're really young, the parents gonna wear it before you could get beat up at school. It's got to be he can't be

at the age to fight. So with all of this going on, the Packers go into Philadelphia for the next playoff game. Coming up next, we'll relive fourth and twenty six, what happened to the Green Bay Packers, how they could have stopped the play from even happening, and maybe even better, what happened to Freddie Mitchell following fourth and twenty six. Keep it right here. You are listening to Special Teams with Jason Smith and Mike Armon. So how did we

get to fourth and twenty six? The play that will live forever in Philadelphia Eagles Lord just as much as well Nick falls catching a touchdown pass. Well, the Packers come in as the team of Destiny Red five story front page, playing for the memory of his dad. It was a very big time for them. The Eagles were a team that were in Green Bay's way, and it looked like it was gonna gonna go green Bay's way. Early on, far throws two touchdown passes to Robert Ferguson

and the Packers take a big fourteen nothing lead. But with the game at fourteen seven, a huge play happens at the end of the first half as armand green gets stopped on fourth down inside the five yard line. So instead of going to halftime with Green Bay with a seventeen seven lead or one seven lead, it's a one score game. Despite the fact that Green Bay dominated the way they did, why is this such a big play? Well, in the second half, Philadelphia claude their way back in it.

They threw the football all game long, and they're down seventeen fourteen. With just over two minutes left to go, Green Bay is facing a fourth and one from the Philadelphia forty one yard line. They go for it and get the first down. Well, guess what, they're running out the clock. The game is over. But instead they decide to punt and give the ball back to the Eagles.

And you wonder how much they remembered. Well, fourth and one in the first half, the Eagles d rose up and stopped on on green inside the five yard line. Let's punt it, make him get all the way down the field. I have confidence in our defense to do it. Certainly something that Packers fans looking back going, Man, if we had gone for it on fourth and one, we'd gotten one yard somehow far would have gotten us one

yard we win this game and there's no fourth. But it's funny we we do that all the time, right with the inability of some teams to run a quarterback sneak looking at you, the Chargers with Philip Rivers all these years because he wouldn't run it, or in different play calling and sometimes you just overthink it. Right, that should be an automatic call unless you're at your own eighteen yard line. You know, you just you get your yard, succeed and proceed. And even then the numbers would suggest

you go for it. Although you know the conservatism of coaches, they're not going to figuring, you know the old whatever can happen and go wrong will But yeah, having been stuffed before, you don't take your chances and just say we're a playoff team. Our defense is played well to this point, they should be able to finish the job. I can't I can't disagree on the whole. The punt works though for the Packers, and they pin the Eagles

deep in their own territory. Do Stanley a play that is really under underrated when it comes to the fourth and twenty six play A starts out the drive and gets them out of trouble, runs for twenty two yards. Now that's a huge play because now suddenly you're out over the twenty yard line and you're thinking, Okay, we gotta get down, we gotta get a field goal because

we gotta go to overtime. But mcdan throws an incomplete pass, there's a penalty, a couple more incomplete passes, and now from their twenty six yard line, the Eagles are faced with fourth and twenty six with a minute twelve left and no time outs. So this is when they decide to call seventy four double go, which turns into Freddie Mitchell catching that pass that winds up being good for

twenty eight yards. You've seen the play many times. We're gonna break it down for you right now because there's not only just a question marks as to what the packers were doing, but what the officials were doing as well. So how does this play happen? Right? Freddie Mitchell runs unencumbered right down the middle of the field and he catches a pass in front of both Darren Sharper and Marcus Anderson, the two safeties. I mean, he runs, he doesn't get knocked off his route by anybody. He just

runs unencumbered down the field. It's one of those plays where when you look at the way the Packers played their defense, it looks like one of those Well, there's ten seconds left in the game, and if they throw to the middle of the field, the game is over. So we're just gonna guard the outside and not let them get out of bounds. I mean, that's really what that looked like. The defense they were playing. Like you can catch a twenty yard pass, but you're gonna get

to midfield. But that time you get up here, camp spike the ball, the game is over. That looked like the defense that the Packers were in, plus sits spread it out and make a play and you got I mean thinking that you're gonna be able to pin them, keep them in bounds and and get clock running, and instead you have an absolute disaster. And the broadcast crew was very quick to point this out. Chris collins Worth most chiefly ready to bring out the acid tongue. You know.

The couple of things with this play is that that later on Mike Sherman would talk about it, ed Donna Tell the defensive coordinator will talking about it and say, well, here's a couple of things and the one thing they look at is, say Nick Barnett, who want up having

a great career for the Packers. When the ball was snapped, he ran up instead of dropping back, and that led Freddie Mitchell run into the middle of fieland Donna McNabb had an eyeline and a sight line to throw to him where he would have had to throw the ball in the pickle barrel if Nick Barnett drops back into the middle of the field where he should be, so that makes it a much easier throw for McNabb. So for some reason Barnett goes forward instead of dropping back.

But I watched the safeties on this, and I watched Darren Sharp and Marcus Anderson and this, this this quint essentially looks to me like it was two guys who were saying, I'm gonna play center field, get interception to be a hero. I'm waiting for the ball to be thrown. They're not. They're gonna throw it here. I'm gonna jump up and I'm gonna catch the ball and I'm going to be a hero, or I'm gonna make a big play at the marker. I'm gonna make a big hit,

and no one's gonna catch the football. But that's what it looked like. They were sitting back waiting for the ball to come to them so they could be the heroes. And instead Mitchell catches the ball in front of both of them. Neither of them come up and make a play. Now he gets hit right away, but neither of them come up and make a play on the ball. Make a play. When the ball is thrown, he's able to catch it. I was stunned how open he was. There

was no one even near the first down marker. Because when this ball is thrown in the air, both Sharper and Anderson are are three yards passed it, And it's like, what do you do? Did they not know where the first down marker Wasn't they think they were two yards where they were supposed to be, but instead they were two yards back from it. Because that that was something that should have never happened. You gotta put all your

guys at the marker. I mean, if it's fourth and you gotta have your guys in the middle of the field at the first down marker, and these guys were two yards behind it. Yeah, he's seen the play of before. He had a big shot down the center of the field, the old jump up and down claiming that your tight ends interfered with uh to no avail uh. And then you set up pretty much in the exact same defense. Mc NAB's got plenty of time to throw. Mitchell doesn't

get touched at all. Still still question of the spot, Well, that's where the ball gets there. If that's that's the controversy that comes out, is that if you believe the red line, because back then it was a red lock. Freddie Mitchell got the first down, but as always, you know, the red line is unofficial, but got an extra two yards on that. Like he went down, he caught it went down basically at the line. But if you're going by the red line, he got the first down. Yeah,

you said the red line is pretty accurate. But they put the ball two yards further down the field. And Joe buck was the guy said it right away, said, whoa, that's a that's a generous spot for the Philadelphia Eagles. And look, the Eagles are all going crazy. Freddie Mitchell, you know, catches this pass and it was, oh my goodness,

and and now they got all kinds of momentum. But really, I mean, there's a lot to say that maybe he didn't get past the first down marker, Like I said, if you believe the red line, and I believe the red line, but was the red line really accurate? Should have been a first nown, I mean, too extra. You can't give a guy to extra yards well, you know for foreign progress or something like that or whatever you

thought you saw on the sidelines. And it is. It is really curious because he gets he gets Malachi crunched, going to the old Happy Days reference, you know, right after he makes the leaping grab, and there's just this moment of all right, did I get it? Did I get not? Credits? Donovan Canab immediately got him up to the line, got the spike. So that's it. Another play was run. There's nothing else coming out of this. So

the Eagles go down using that momentum. David Acres, who was as accurate kickers you would see in the NFL for a long time, also wore his wedding ring while he kicked, which is always interesting. Uh, he kicks a field goal that ties the game thirty seven yards and that sent it to overtime. And this play is still being talked about at this point. It's fourth and twenty

six how did they get it? And it's one of those where even though you're still playing the game, if you're the Packers, if you're the Eagles, you're still thinking, how did that play happen? You know, you're still trying to get that playback while you're trying to play forward.

And that never works because certain times things how you let a play occur that should have never happened, and going on from it is really really difficult, and and clearly the Packers couldn't go on for it because in overtime, Far throws a horrible heave way past Javon Walker. He was wide open at midfield, but this was quintessential Far off balance, off my back foot, and he throws it

up and Javon Walker is open. He's got ten yards with the defensive back his ten yards behind him, but Far just throws it as far as he can nowhere near Javon Walker, and it's twenty yards past and Brian Dawkins comes down with it, gets a good return, Acres takes the game winning field goal, and the Eagles go on in the playoffs and the Packers go home. I mean, really watch that play and you see Far throwing. You go, where the hell is he throwing this ball? But this

is life with Brett Farve. You know, as great as he can be, he'll give you a knucklehead throw like this and you go, that throw costs us the game. And that picked by Brian Dawkins because it was bad coverage because, like I said, Javon Walker's wide open. This is back when Javon Walker was a really good receiver, because he had a very short window of being one

of the better receivers in the NFL. And all Farv's got to do is throw it on a line and it's like he just decided, I'm gonna throw the ball as far as I can and it's where the hell is this ball going? Well, the like you watch basketball, it's lived by the three, died by the three. Brett Farve and that big arm thinking he's going to be

able to make a play each and every time. And in this case, a little bit of miscommunication and you know, an easy catch for for Dawkins sets up the return and you know, one of the many I N T s that we throw up for Brett Farve and ramifications off of this, I mean, it becomes a pretty big deal for the Packers and their organization. Now let's get to Fred Mitchell for a couple of minutes, because after this game, he finds himself an overnight celebrity. And it

was a great play, it was a great catch. But he never became the guy that the Eagles wanted him to be. He was rapped in the first round as a wide receiver out of U C. L A. And he was supposed to be the wide receiver, the number one guy that would pair with McNabb for the majority of McNabb's career and they solved all their offensive problems.

But he never panned out. But he was fun. You know, he nicknamed himself Fred X. He did all kinds of interviews where he would say things like, oh, you know, America and society doesn't care about things I do in the Eagles offense. It's not about catching passes, and it's really about catching passes when you're a first round draft way you're coming into the National Football League. I mean,

he never became that player. And he was always yapping about not getting the ball enough, no matter what it was. And I think the Eagles would have thrown him the football more if he was open and could catch it. But it was never was never any it was never his fault. It was always somebody else's fault. But Freddie Mitchell was pretty fun, well fun run he those interviews, as you said, how much deliberately just trying to egg people on right, getting into it with Robby Harrison a

little bit, Uh didn't help him. How they changed up the receiving core of the following year, which we'll get into in a minute. But you know, he was a slot guy, had one big moment, dressed the part of a first round pick, talked a big game, showed up on a bunch of TV shows and dating a millionaire matchmaker when that was the thing those years ago. Showed

up there. I mean, he took his fifteen minutes of fame and ran with it as best he could, but was never anywhere close to what you would expect out of a mid first round pick, which is what he was. And he's got some other issues. And when we get to where are they now, Yeah, yeah, Freddy's got some other stuff. I mean, Freddy mentioned he could have been going to card shows for the rest of his life for at fifty bucks, signing pictures every time. Everything I'll

make all kinds of money. I'll go for a weekend and just signed fourth and twenty six Freddie Mitchell, and I'll make all kinds of money. You know me, You've you've picked up after all these years. Go find your inscription and run with it. Man, run Now, since we're still talking about Freddie Mitche, I'm gonna kind of, uh, kind of put the card before the horse here is that.

In the following year, the Eagles got to the Super Bowl and one of the most famous things that happened in the Super Bowl week before the Eagles played the New England Patriots was they interviewed Freddie Mitchell and he couldn't name any Patriots defensive acts. There's a very big thing. I say, you know, who do you have to worry about? Uh? He knew some numbers, but he didn't know anybody any of the names of the Patriots D B s. And all he does, all he'd like to do was talk.

He was a big star that week is you know some of those great stories. But what's best about this is Bill Belichick, who never says anything about anybody. Right if a player stinks, he doesn't say anything about players. Good talking about praise well, but yeah, But when he was asked about Freddie Mitchell following the Super Bowl, he said, oh, all he does is talk. He's terrible, and you can print that I was happy when he was in the game.

This was Belichick saying, this is about Preddy Mitchell. You can print that I was happy when he was in the game. And when's the last time Belichick's criticized a player. He doesn't say anything, but no, I'll say this about Freddie Mitchell because he just couldn't stand Freddy Mitchell. Bunny. He's like Jon Gruden was for most of his run on Monday Night Football. Oh this guy is great. He's got a fort completion rate, doesn't matter looking at the mechanics,

He's fantastic. So yeah, I mean, Bill Belichick says nothing. I mean, how many times has he gone on and wax poetically for three or four minutes at a time over a team's kicker, their return man, their punter. I mean, he'll go into soliloquies that are Shakespearean and nature about guys that are the afterthought for the average fan. I really can't believe, you know, thinking about the Belichick has only had a couple of times in his career where

he said things about a Pacific player. I remember who was it, Anthony Smith? Right, who was the guy that guaranteed the win for the Steelers over the Patriots and the playoffs. And it was a very big deal in in like two thousand seven. It was the uh I think it was the year that Patriots were going undefeated. Uh. They went up losing the Giants and um, Anthony Smith guaranteed to win. And after the game Belichick said something like, well, we played a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell

you that much, or something like that. I mean, he he picks his spots. But there was one of the few times we just to say I was glad when he was in the game. Oh good, Freddy's in the game. We have to worry about things now. We're all good. We're all good here. But tell me that wouldn't be the best game to play with Belichick is just put up pictures, names up on you know, just off your

projector and see what the responses are. So there is fourth and twenty six and the fifteen minute hero who lives forever in NFL Lord because he makes the play Freddie Mitchell. What happened to the Packers and the Eagles as a result of this game, well for the Packers it wasn't the greatest of times, but it actually turned out to be pretty good. And the Eagles, well, they knew after this they had to go out and make a big change and they did. We got that coming

up next right here on special teams. So what was next for the Green Bay Packers in the Philadelphia Eagles. After the Eagles beat the Packers in the fourth and twenty six game at David Acres, field goal and overtime went to seventeen. Well for the Packers, this was the last of the great heights for Brett Farve in Green Bay. The following season, far through four picks versus Minnesota at home to get knocked out of the playoffs, which was shocking. But this, like I said, is life with Brett Farve.

Brett Farve is someone who will give you some incredible and gave you incredible performances over the course of his career, but it will also give the football the other team way too much and many times at the absolute worst time. So four picks in that playoff game against Minnesota was it.

And it was in that following draft that they took Aaron Rodgers in the first round, so replacing Farv was on the Packers agenda following this playoff game, and then the following year, Okay, we'll get far Of another chance. Four picks against Minnesota. Now we gotta draft his air apparent. Well, eventually you gotta turn the page and thinking about what could be. I mean, you've got short windows, and you were already probably into overtime, or at least you thought

with with Brett Farvet at this point. But when when you look at just the fortunes of a franchise, at some point you've got to start thinking about the future and reloading. Packers doing that with their draft all these years later with Aaron Rodgers, Right, you might think he has a year or two les in terms of his production, maybe three whatever, But thirty seven years old. Truculent one of our favorite words in sports media, and you know,

some battles with the new regime with Brett Farve. We always had rumblings of that, right, how happy he was and kind of played and marched to his own drummer. So yeah, it was it was time to start at least planning for the future. In two thousand five, the Packers plummeted to four and twelve. Big injuries of skilled players. Givon Walker got hurt in Week one, missed the season,

Ferguson got hurt, i'm On Green got hurt. Mike Sherman gets fired, and Mike McCarthy comes in, which really was the telling moment that, Okay, now we're gonna get used to a new quarterback because we have a new coach coming in who's going to continue to groom Aaron Rodgers. Now, it still took three years from Aaron Rodgers being draft until he took over the job, but that was when you knew, okay, they're really looking to make a turn. And you can trace it back to this game, to

the fourth and twenty six game games. Had the Packers stopped the Eagles, they maybe they continue to go on a run. They were red hot and go to the Super Bowl and five plays well and suddenly they're not drafting Aaron Rodgers. But they lost the game. Okay, this wasn't really Farve's fault, although we did throw that really bad picking overtime. Because the fourth and twenty six is

what stays in everybody's mind. But the following season you have a four interception playoff game, and it's we gotta get off this merry go round. We gotta get off this ride. Farve has done it great for us for a long time, but now we really can't have this. We can't. We can't have a great team and have four picks because because our guy just thinks he wants to try to throw a football through somebody, which is really what Brett Farve did many times throughout his career.

So this pushed that Packers segue from Brett Farve away to what was next as a result of this game, Now for the Eagles, they lose the NFC Championship Game at home to Carolina fourteen to three. This is their third straight loss in the NFC Title Game. It's this was the They were almost like a poor man's Buffalo Bills were. Instead of losing the Super Bowl, the Eagles lost in the NFC Title Game. Every single year McNabb played with torn cartilage in his ribs. He had trouble

throwing the football. He threw three interceptions. The Eagles couldn't get the football up and down the field at all. Coy Dettmer came in this game at one point through a pick in the end zone. This was Carolina winning and getting to the Super Bowl, and Jake Diloma is a hero and they nearly pulled the big upset off against the Patriots. But what this proved this season. Now you had Freddie Mitchell making that big play, but then you had no offense in a four teen three loss

to Carolina. Philadelphia realized we need to make a change, so coming off of this playoff, they added Tarall Owens and they bolted the defense by signing Javon Curse. This was the best of the Philadelphia teams. They go on to lose the Super Bowl to New England the year after, but this game this season, realizing we don't have the wide receivers, they go get Tara Owens and suddenly Andy Reid is in the Pro Bowl, and you know it's

not just t O who comes in. But as a result of this, we we spent a lot of time for it. But they go get you a Von Curse because one of the things the Eagles had a problem with in this season was they couldn't stop the run. And this NFC Championship game, this was Steven Davis and

Deshaun Foster were just completely running over them. They combined to run for a hundred and fifty yards and Deshaun Foster had the big clinching touchdown in the third quarter and Jake Dilome only through for a hundred yards in this game. It was we're just gonna run the football on you and bludging you and do it. And so they were able to do it, and it was the Eagles realizing we need more on offense, we need more

on defense. They go out and do it. As a results of these playoffs, they grind and keep the clock moving. Remember Steven Davis at his best man that was like a five yard a pop runner uh in between the tackles and then Foster catching the ball out of the backfield shifty to the edges man. That was a good

one to combination for them as well. But once again, as we're going through these special teams, you see the ramifications and how much NFL history in the short and long term is affected by one or two big plays and fourth and changing the fortunes of a couple of franchises. All right, so where are they now, Mike Carmen. Let's say a look at where some of these guys are now these years later, where are they now? Well, let's

lock a couple of MPs. We've got a couple of the guys that took the traditional let's stay in football routes. So we got Hank Fraley of the Eagles. He is now the offensive line coach for your Detroit Lions and Al Harris superstar. Uh he's reunited with Mike McCarthy. He's working with defensive backs in Dallas coming season. And then I've got two guys that got the entrepreneurial spirit. You got Carlos Emmons, who decided, you know what, I want to be a billionaire and gonna start by taking over

hospitality and restaurants. So he's a restaurant tour of a B fifty one restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. So you got that. And then you've got Nate Wayne. You're gonna love this. Also in Atlanta, Georgia. He owns the cold Stone Creamery. Oh I love cold Stone, Oh I love cold Stone Creamery. Oh man, they may they put out that big slab and they mix all the ice cream up, and I'm just I always add all kinds of topics. What would you like? I'd like kit cats okay, great. Oh and

peanut butter okay great. Oh and brownies okay great? Oh and eminem sir, come on, we gotta make this now. Okay, stop adding stuff, I mix it up for you. Well, I always asked for one, Like when I really just decide I'm gonna have my you know, nine thousand calorie day is, I'll say, give me any MEANYU give me number seven off of your premixes. And that's when you go to work, because there's always like eighteen things in there.

All right, now the big one you say, the best one for right to say, the big one for last? Well that was the cold Stone Creamery man. Well well, well, yeah, all right, I was I was gonna try to forget about Freddie. Yeah, Freddie. Um yeah, he had a barbecue joint called Brothers Barbecue, but as good uh. And then a package of seven pounds showed up in February of two thousand nine to his business. It was not brisket, it was not some bacon that maybe they were short

and no, h it was marijuana. He was detained, not charged, but they closed for violations, violation, and then um they reopened, and then eventually he would lose the restaurant after a court ruling, and then he's pulled over for speeding and then well an outstanding weren't for failure to pace child support. He was a fugitive from justice and it went next level. Now that that's one step for Freddie uh and then in he was in it on federal tax fraud charges,

went to prison for over three years. Freddie Mitchell thirty seven months in prison. That was Freddy the fred X All for fred X. There's our look back at fourth and what surrounded it, the drama before it, the drama after it, and what it meant for both teams. This is why we do Special Teams certain big games. It's not just a big game, because it's about what happens in that game and then what happens as a result to both of these teams. Do you have an idea

for a future episode of Special Team Today? Hit us up on Twitter at how about a Fresca? Mike is at Swollen Dome. Our show is on Fox Sports Radio Monday through Friday, ten p m t. Two am on the East coast, seven to eleven on the West Coast. We'll talk to you next week with a brand new episode of Special Teams Before you go, rate and review the show. Whether you're listening on I heart Radio, I heart radio apps, Apple, whatever it is, give us a rate, tell us you like it. We will love you forever

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