"The Holy Roller"
"The Holy Roller"
September 10, 1978

"The Holy Roller"

"I just happened to be there at the time." - Dave Casper

A series of sneaky but heads-up plays by the Raiders during one circus-like sequence at the end of a game on September 10, 1978 led to a NFL rule change – and would be coined with an infamous nickname: "The Holy Roller". In Week 2 of that season, in a game at San Diego Stadium, the Raiders trailed the Chargers by 6 with 10 seconds left and had the ball at the Chargers 14. Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler took the snap and moved back into the pocket, where Woodrow Lowe, a Chargers linebacker, was bearing down on him. Stabler, a left-hander known as “Snake,” rapidly backed up to avoid Lowe, who wrapped Stabler up. But slyly, Stabler purposely fumbled the ball forward, where Raiders running back Pete Banaszak dove for it. But, knowing that if he was tackled with the ball, the Raiders would lose, Banaszak shoveled it forward. Dave Casper, a Hall of Fame tight end, went to retrieve it at the 5, booted it forward, and recovered it himself for a touchdown. Bill King, the Raiders’ radio broadcaster, called it “the most zany, unbelievable, absolutely impossible dream of a play.” The Raiders converted on the extra point and won, 21-20 – and the odd series of events led to a new NFL rule banning any player other than the fumbler from advancing it after the two-minute warning.