Hello There, Guest! (LoginRegister)

Post Reply 
The "12th Man Tackle" of Tom Rozantz - 1977
Author Message
Bookmark and Share
heferbovine Offline
Water Engineer
*

Posts: 89
Joined: Oct 2019
Reputation: 2
I Root For: W&M Tribeu6
Location:
Post: #1
The "12th Man Tackle" of Tom Rozantz - 1977
In October 1977, William & Mary met heavily favored East Carolina University in the Oyster Bowl (a regular season fund raising game hosted by the Shriners) at old Foreman Field in Norfolk. Late in the third quarter, William & Mary quarterback Tom Rozantz took off on an option run and appeared headed for what would become the game-winning touchdown. When Rozantz got to the 5-yard line, Jim Johnson, a portly 65-year old man, seemed to come out of nowhere and grounded Rozantz with a surgical, shoulder-first, cross-body tackle. But Johnson wasn't an ECU defender. He was a Virginia Beach resident who was walking the sidelines as a spectator. A former ECU head football coach and athletics director, he apparently could not bear the thought of the Pirates losing the game. Impulsively, he lurched onto the field, and made the tackle that was carried nationwide by the Associated Press and "The NFL Today," which showed video footage of the event. Game officials ruled the play a touchdown and William & Mary went on to win, 21–17.

It was an outstanding football game, but it is probably the "12th man tackle" that most of the 20,000 people in attendance at Foreman Field on that very, very cold Saturday afternoon remembered most about it.

======================================

That victory over ECU was memorable for another reason if fans want to have a bit of fun and play the "comparative score" game--a notably unreliable barometer of team strength--but a lot of fun nonetheless.

Here goes: During the 1977 season, William and Mary defeated East Carolina. East Carolina defeated Duke. Duke defeated Geogia Tech. Georgia Tech defeated Mississippi. Mississippi defeated Notre Dame. At season's end Notre Dame (11-1) was ranked No. 1 in the country by the Associated Press.
11-12-2019 06:46 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


bubbadog57 Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 2,079
Joined: Oct 2016
Reputation: 33
I Root For: William & Mary
Location:
Post: #2
RE: The "12th Man Tackle" of Tom Rozantz - 1977
Even better was Rozantz's comment after the game: "I can't believe I let a 65 year old man tackle me."
11-13-2019 06:22 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
GoTribe70 Offline
Water Engineer
*

Posts: 42
Joined: Mar 2019
Reputation: 0
I Root For: William & Mary
Location:
Post: #3
RE: The "12th Man Tackle" of Tom Rozantz - 1977
(11-12-2019 06:46 PM)heferbovine Wrote:  In October 1977, William & Mary met heavily favored East Carolina University in the Oyster Bowl (a regular season fund raising game hosted by the Shriners) at old Foreman Field in Norfolk. Late in the third quarter, William & Mary quarterback Tom Rozantz took off on an option run and appeared headed for what would become the game-winning touchdown. When Rozantz got to the 5-yard line, Jim Johnson, a portly 65-year old man, seemed to come out of nowhere and grounded Rozantz with a surgical, shoulder-first, cross-body tackle. But Johnson wasn't an ECU defender. He was a Virginia Beach resident who was walking the sidelines as a spectator. A former ECU head football coach and athletics director, he apparently could not bear the thought of the Pirates losing the game. Impulsively, he lurched onto the field, and made the tackle that was carried nationwide by the Associated Press and "The NFL Today," which showed video footage of the event. Game officials ruled the play a touchdown and William & Mary went on to win, 21–17.

It was an outstanding football game, but it is probably the "12th man tackle" that most of the 20,000 people in attendance at Foreman Field on that very, very cold Saturday afternoon remembered most about it.

======================================

That victory over ECU was memorable for another reason if fans want to have a bit of fun and play the "comparative score" game--a notably unreliable barometer of team strength--but a lot of fun nonetheless.

Here goes: During the 1977 season, William and Mary defeated East Carolina. East Carolina defeated Duke. Duke defeated Geogia Tech. Georgia Tech defeated Mississippi. Mississippi defeated Notre Dame. At season's end Notre Dame (11-1) was ranked No. 1 in the country by the Associated Press.

I was at that game and saw the play. My memory is that Tom leveled the poor guy before stepping out of bounds. My memory may be faulty, but that's what I recall.
11-13-2019 12:40 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Advertisement


Tribe4SF Online
1st String
*

Posts: 1,752
Joined: Nov 2012
Reputation: 55
I Root For: W&M
Location: Jamestown!
Post: #4
RE: The "12th Man Tackle" of Tom Rozantz - 1977
(11-13-2019 12:40 PM)GoTribe70 Wrote:  
(11-12-2019 06:46 PM)heferbovine Wrote:  In October 1977, William & Mary met heavily favored East Carolina University in the Oyster Bowl (a regular season fund raising game hosted by the Shriners) at old Foreman Field in Norfolk. Late in the third quarter, William & Mary quarterback Tom Rozantz took off on an option run and appeared headed for what would become the game-winning touchdown. When Rozantz got to the 5-yard line, Jim Johnson, a portly 65-year old man, seemed to come out of nowhere and grounded Rozantz with a surgical, shoulder-first, cross-body tackle. But Johnson wasn't an ECU defender. He was a Virginia Beach resident who was walking the sidelines as a spectator. A former ECU head football coach and athletics director, he apparently could not bear the thought of the Pirates losing the game. Impulsively, he lurched onto the field, and made the tackle that was carried nationwide by the Associated Press and "The NFL Today," which showed video footage of the event. Game officials ruled the play a touchdown and William & Mary went on to win, 21–17.

It was an outstanding football game, but it is probably the "12th man tackle" that most of the 20,000 people in attendance at Foreman Field on that very, very cold Saturday afternoon remembered most about it.

======================================

That victory over ECU was memorable for another reason if fans want to have a bit of fun and play the "comparative score" game--a notably unreliable barometer of team strength--but a lot of fun nonetheless.

Here goes: During the 1977 season, William and Mary defeated East Carolina. East Carolina defeated Duke. Duke defeated Geogia Tech. Georgia Tech defeated Mississippi. Mississippi defeated Notre Dame. At season's end Notre Dame (11-1) was ranked No. 1 in the country by the Associated Press.

I was at that game and saw the play. My memory is that Tom leveled the poor guy before stepping out of bounds. My memory may be faulty, but that's what I recall.

I was there as well and your memory is faulty. Tom never saw the guy coming and was taken down hard by thigh high hit with head in front. It was pretty impressive!
11-13-2019 03:09 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
billymac Offline
Heisman
*

Posts: 5,997
Joined: Aug 2014
Reputation: 122
I Root For: William & Mary
Location:
Post: #5
RE: The "12th Man Tackle" of Tom Rozantz - 1977
Yeah, it was on the other side (home side) of the field from where we were sitting, but I remember this guy, in a brown overcoat (flapping in the breeze) and brown slacks come out of nowhere and tackle Tom. I mean, the place went silent. Nobody could believe what they had just seen.
11-13-2019 04:21 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 




User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


Copyright © 2002-2024 Collegiate Sports Nation Bulletin Board System (CSNbbs), All Rights Reserved.
CSNbbs is an independent fan site and is in no way affiliated to the NCAA or any of the schools and conferences it represents.
This site monetizes links. FTC Disclosure.
We allow third-party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit our web site. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice or to opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.networkadvertising.org.
Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2024 MyBB Group.