TAMPA, Fla. — It was a fumble. Everyone could see it was a fumble.
Tom Brady was stripped of the football by Raiders defensive back Charles Woodson. Linebacker Greg Biekert recovered. Game over.
Jon Gruden was headed to the AFC Championship game as the league's youngest head coach. Whoever heard of the Tuck Rule?
"I think they spelled the rule wrong, personally," Gruden said during a conference call this week.
From 1999 to 2003, NFL Rule 3, Section 22, Article 2, Note 2 stated when a player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body.
So instead of a fumble, the original call was overturned by replay and it was merely an incomplete pass.
Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal to tie the score on that possession and another one to win it for the Patriots in overtime.
You know how often Gruden thinks about that snowy playoff game he lost to Brady in overtime on Jan. 19, 2002, the one that launched the Patriots dynasty?
"I don't think about it," he said. "Would you think about it if you were me?"
