5 Things You Didn't Know (Or Might Have Forgotten) About "The Romo Game"

As the Seahawks head to Dallas to take on the Cowboys this Sunday, I thought it would be fun to look back at one of the most blissful moments in franchise history: Our 21-20 win over Dallas in the 2006 NFC Wild Card game.. You know, the one where this happened:



I rank that game as the 4th greatest victory in Seahawks history, after the 2005 NFC Championship, the 2010 Wild Card win over New Orleans, and the 1983 Divisional Playoff win over Miami. Conversely, unless Tony Romo ever leads the Cowboys to the Super Bowl (and he won't), that botched snap will remain the defining moment of his NFL career. That play has been covered ad nauseum, so I wanted to look at five additional things you may have forgotten (or didn't know) about that glorious day.

5. SI.com had a "Dewey Defeats Truman" Moment
This was briefly posted on the main page for SI.com, presumably before the actual field goal attempt:



That headline should have been extra embarrassing for Sports Illustrated, for reasons I'll outline in a little bit...

4. Jerramy Stevens: Hero!
Yes, Stevens is rightly remembered as a worthless fucking turd and an embarrassment to our proud franchise- but for one day, he was absolutely essential to Seattle's eventual victory. Stevens led all receivers that day with five receptions, and scored both Seattle touchdowns, including the go-ahead score late in the 4th. Great job, ya bastad!

3. Kelly Jennings: Hero!
Few players in Seahawks history have been derided as much as Jennings, but we don't win without the play he made midway through the final quarter. After the Seahawks failed to score on 4th and goal, on the ensuing play Jennings forced a Terry Glenn fumble- that led to a safety that pulled Seattle within 20-15 and gave Hasselbeck and the offense the ball back with an opportunity to score the go-ahead TD.

2. Some Dude We Pulled Off the Street Shut Down T.O.
Future Hall-of-Famer Terrell Owens' stat line that day? Two catches for 26 yards and a fumble. Who was covering him most of that game? Pete Hunter... Some dude that was working as a loan officer before his phone rang with a job offer from Seattle days before the playoffs began. After the playoff loss at Chicago the next week, Hunter went back to playing in the Arena league and then the CFL... But for one day he helped shut down T.O. with Seattle's season on the line.

1. Gramatica's FG wouldn't have won the game, and Romo's fumble didn't lose it for Dallas.
Even if Dallas had converted that FG attempt, the Seahawks would have had over a minute to get into range for a game-winner off the foot of Josh Brown, who had already won FOUR games in 2006 with last-second kicks (why do you think I bought that little shitbird's jersey?).

After the Seahawks got the ball back, Dallas still had timeouts remaining. If they had held Seattle to a 3-and-out, they would have gotten the ball back in good field position with time to get back into field goal range. Seattle's victory wasn't sealed until Shaun Alexander tore off a 22-yard dash to eat up almost all of the time remaining.

I was lucky enough to be at that game- Anyone else care to share their memories of that wonderful January evening?