[00:32.06]There’s a moment of orderly silence
[00:34.10]
[00:34.10]before a football play begins.
[00:35.85]
[00:35.90]Players are in position, linemen are frozen,
[00:38.87]
[00:38.92]And anything’s possible.
[00:40.35]
[00:45.04]Then, like a traffic accident, staff begins to randomly collide.
[00:49.28]
[00:50.18]From the snap of the ball to the snap of the first bone
[00:52.87]
[00:52.92]Is closer to four seconds than five.
[00:55.72]
[01:03.94]One mississippi.
[01:05.25]
[01:05.30]Joe Theismann, the redskins quarterback
[01:07.51]
[01:07.56]Takes the snap and hands off to his running back.
[01:09.80]
[01:11.63]Two mississippi.
[01:13.30]
[01:13.35]It’s a trick play, a flea flicker,
[01:15.71]
[01:15.76]And the running back tosses the ball back to the quarterback.
[01:18.74]
[01:21.63]Three mississippi.
[01:22.84]
[01:22.89]Up to now the play’s been defined
[01:24.98]
[01:24.98]by the what the quarterback sees.
[01:27.08]
[01:27.13]It’s about to be defined by what he doesn’t.
[01:30.28]
[01:31.36]Four mississippi.
[01:32.61]
[01:32.66]Lawrence Taylor is the best defensive player in the NFL
[01:36.36]
[01:36.44]And has been from the time he stepped onto the field as a rookie.
[01:40.03]
[01:48.06]He will also change the game of football as we know it.
[01:51.55]
[01:51.60]...and we’ll look at it with the reverse angle one more time.
[01:54.29]
[01:54.34]And I suggest if your stomach is weak you just don’t watch ...
[01:57.46]
[01:57.51]Legendary quarterback Joe Thiesmann
[01:59.77]
[01:59.77]never played another down of football.
[02:02.24]
[02:04.30]Now, y’all would guess that more often than not
[02:06.76]
[02:06.81]The highest paid player on an NFL team is the quarterback.
[02:10.31]
[02:10.36]And you’d be right.
[02:11.65]
[02:11.70]What you probably don’t know is that more often than not
[02:14.55]
[02:14.60]The second highest paid player is, thanks to Lawrence Taylor,
[02:18.25]
[02:18.30]A left tackle.
[02:19.59]
[02:19.64]Because, as every housewife knows,
[02:21.60]
[02:21.65]The first check you write is for the mortgage
[02:23.74]
[02:23.79]But the second is for the insurence.
[02:26.52]
[02:26.57]And the left tackle’s job is to protect the quarterback
[02:29.36]
[02:29.41]From what he can’t see coming. To protect his blind side.
[02:32.81]
[02:33.20]The ideal left tackle is big, but a lot of people are big.
[02:37.05]
[02:37.16]He is wide in the butt and massive in the thighs.
[02:40.12]
[02:40.17]He has long arms, giant hands and feet as quick as a hiccup.
[02:44.33]
[02:46.49]This is a rare and expensive combination
[02:49.15]
[02:49.20]The need for which can be traced to that monday night game
[02:52.04]
[02:52.09]And Lawrence Taylor.
[02:54.09]
[02:54.23]For on that day he not only altered Joe Theismann’s life,
[02:58.10]
[02:59.01]But mine as well.
[03:00.57]
[03:06.85]Mr. Oher?
[03:08.35]
[03:08.88]Mr. Oher?
[03:10.38]
[03:11.03]Do you understand..? Do you know why I’m here?
[03:14.28]
[03:15.06]To... investigate?
[03:16.83]
[03:16.88]Yes. To investigate.
[03:18.83]
[03:20.41]I’m here to investigate your odd... predicament.
[03:24.10]
[03:24.93]Do you find the odd? Your predicament?
[03:27.78]
[03:29.66]Michael?...
[03:31.21]
[03:32.00]Iono.
[03:33.65]
[03:35.06]Can I... can I leave now?
[03:36.76]
[03:36.81]No. You can’t.
[03:38.46]
[04:04.03]strange face, with your eyes
[04:07.35]
[04:09.38]so pale and sincere
[04:12.62]
[04:14.21]underneath, you know well
[04:17.94]
[04:19.36]you have nothing to fear
[04:23.13]
[04:25.73]for the dreams that came to you
[04:29.36]
[04:30.08]when you were young
[04:32.39]
[04:35.96]told of a life where
[04:39.52]
[04:41.02]spring has crawled
[04:45.10]
[04:55.16]you would seem so frail
[04:58.94]
[05:00.77]in the cold of the night |