It ranks as one of the greatest games in NFL history. It also is one of the league’s most controversial.
The Raiders held a 13-10 lead with 1:50 remaining in a 2001 divisional postseason game played in a snowstorm in New England. The Patriots had a first-and-10 at the Oakland 42 when Charles Woodson hit Tom Brady, forcing what everyone thought was a fumble that linebacker Greg Biekert recovered.
Alas, the Tuck Rule, since changed, overturned the call to an incomplete pass on replay.
Adam Vinatieri’s 45-yard field goal with 27 seconds left tied the game, and the Patriots won in overtime. The rest is history.
Brady plays Jon Gruden’s Raiders on Sunday, and the Buccaneers quarterback couldn’t stop laughing when asked if he and Gruden ever rehash one of the most infamous plays in NFL history.
“I’ve only been around him a few times – not too often – but it gets brought up every time we are around one another,” Brady said. “I could see why he hasn’t gotten over it. One of my ex-teammates, Charles Woodson, we’ve been together probably more than that, and he and I have hashed it out.
“That was just an unbelievable game. I still see it today and it’s a great part of my football history and it’s probably a very sour part of their football history, but that’s the way it goes. We had that in ’07 when we played against the Giants in the Super Bowl, and in ‘11 and in ’17 – one team wins and one team loses. It’s a fluke call, one ball bounces your way or one goes the opposite way. I’ll always feel I have some type of strong feeling or emotion toward the Raiders. I’ve played them a few times since, and they’ve got a great history of football [and] football players. Al Davis [is] just one of the pioneers in the history of the NFL. Whenever you play them, you kind of always feel that.”
The Tuck Rule game was Gruden’s last one as the Raiders head coach until he returned to the franchise in 2018.