The Secret of the Super Bowl 2012 'Reluctant TD'

It has been dubbed "The Reluctant Touchdown," and Ahmad Bradshaw's butt first fall into the end zone is now the stuff of Super Bowl lore, but what exactly happened on that play that created the confusion?

Here's how things happened: with the New York trailing the New England Patrios by two with only one minute, four seconds left, the Giants were on the Patriots' 6-yard line. They handed the ball off to Ahmad Bradshaw, and the sea of Patriots players parted, giving him an open road right into the end zone. Bradshaw ran, tried to stop --- you could see him slow down at about the two. However, he turned, butt first to the end zone, and essentially fell into the end zone.

Admittedly, a field goal, even a chip shot from the one-yard-line (amounting to a 18 yard kick or thereabouts), is not a gimme. It's about the same as an extra point, and extra points are missed. There's always the chance for a bad snap, bad hold, or blocked kick. That said, virtually everyone, at the time and on Monday morning, was saying that Bradshaw should have fallen to the ground at the one.

So what happened? Why did Bradshaw go into the end zone? It gave Tom Brady and the Patriots the ball with nearly a minute left, always risky with a QB as good as Tom Brady.

Bradshaw spoke to "Mike and Mike in the Morning" on ESPN radio on Monday morning (the audio is already available on the "Mike and Mike" page at ESPN.com) and said he simply was not told to fall to the ground in the huddle before the play started.

As Bradshaw said, he wasn't told anything until QB Eli Manning handed the ball off to him. Then, Manning said to him, right during the hand-off "Don't score, don't score." It was a little late then. The Patriots players parted and as Bradshaw said, it didn't sink in until he was close to the end zone. By then, it was too late. He couldn't stop himself, try as he might, and he scored a TD.

Only three other players had scored the winning touchdown of the Super Bowl in the final minute of the game. Those players were John Taylor of the 49ers (Jan. 1989), Plaxico Burress of the Giants (Feb. 2008), and Santonio Holmes of the Steelers (Feb. 2009). All of those were pass receptions. Bradshaw is the only one of that quartet who actually --- he said --- felt bad when he scored.

As far as whether or not it was the right play: the Giants won. So it was the right play. It just made the rest of the game a lot more exciting.

You can watch the 'Reluctant TD' below.

Image Source: Video Capture

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