How the Patriots found themselves in a fourth-and-63

Watching a high school game almost 15 years ago, Wayne Gretzky JerseyI remember some poor option-based offense facing a third-and-55 after a fumble and a slew of penalties. Naturally, they handed off before punting. I also recall a few wild long-yardage situations I’d seen in a few college football games — Georgia faced a fourth-and-57 at Tennessee in 2011, and Minnesota facing a third- (and fourth) http://www.officialbluesteamshop.com/Womens_Youth_Alex_Pietrangelo_Jerseyand-49 against Texas Tech in a bowl game the next year. Heck, the wildest thing I ever remember was Michigan State punting on fourth-and-goal. Granted, it was from the 40-yard line after Kirk Cousins had to fall on a fumble that went more than 30 yards the wrong direction. But it got me wondering: What was the longest down and distance http://www.officialbluesteamshop.com/Womens_Youth_Alexander_Steen_Jerseyto go in NFL history? I had no clue. Luckily, the Internet had some fast answers — and they even appear to be correct. The New England Patriots got themselves into a fourth-and-63 against the Dallas Cowboys back on Oct. 24, 1971. Sixty-three! That’s hard to do. That’s almost two-thirds of a football field. It’s more than double the distance Ray Rice converted on his famous fourth-and-29. Fifteen yards longer than the third- and fourth-and-48 (penalty-sack-penalty-sack) the Oakland Raiders faced Martin Hanzal Jerseyagainst the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013. Certainly, there had to be something fascinating out there on fourth-and-63. After I checked with a few people about it being the longest — none could accurately confirm it was, but it was roundly believed to be — I called the Patriots. They had little knowledge about it. The Cowboys were nohttp://www.officialcoyotesproshop.com/Womens_Youth_Mike_Smith_Jerseyhelp. That game was the first contest played in Texas Stadium, their home for almost the next 30 years, but strangely the public relations team had no interesting photos or anecdotes from the afternoon, even though former President Lyndon Johnson was in the house that day and burst into the Cowboys’ locker room to offer congrats. “That’s the way you break in a new stadium!” LBJ said. This seemed to be about a bad Patriots team being extra bad on that particular day, facing a Cowboys team that was just hitting its stride. I called four former members of the Patriots and three former Cowboys, all from those 1971 teams. I got very little. Some opted not to return calls. Others had no memory of it. One former player was shocked someone even called to ask about it.