It was the call for which Jason Elam had waited for over a decade.
“About 12 years,” Elam said. “I didn’t think (Head Coach Mike Shanahan) would ever, ever run it.”
But a fake-field goal that saw him sprint around right end late in the first half left the Broncos’ long-time placekicker hobbling with a pulled hamstring, which didn’t prevent him from hitting a fourth-quarter extra point but was also not fully tested by a second-half field goal try.
“When he kicked that extra point, it looked like he didn’t have a lot of ‘umph,’” Shanahan said. “Mentally, he was there, but I’m not sure if he was there physically.”
“It was tightening up over the course of time, but you’ve got to suck it up,” Elam added.
What got him to that point was a late first-half run that got the Broncos a first down — but did not have the intended result, which was for Elam to dash into the end zone for a touchdown.
“I walked up to (Shanahan) and said, ‘This is a perfect chance for Rainbow Right — that’s what we call it — and he said, ‘OK, let’s do it,’” Elam said.
There was just one catch.
“(Shanahan) told me during the week, ‘You can’t pull a hamstring on this.’ He was like a prophet on it,” Elam recalled. “At halftime, he said, ‘You can’t call your own play and get hurt.’”
Elam considered himself fortunate to incur the injury in his left leg.
“Fortunately it’s my non-kicking leg,” Elam said. “I anticipate being completely fine for next week.”
Tags: Jason Elam
hahaha, despite the loss its hard not to laugh about this story. We love ya Jason
I must say, the casual over the shoulder lob by Plummer was damn near as impressive as Elam’s one handed grab on the fly. What a fun play to watch! How nice a play would that have been if there had been a little more time or additional timeouts left? What a clutch first down that would have been.
After watching Elam run, how could anyone in their right mind think he could score from 30 yards out?
hahaha, elam was running like he didnt even have hamstrings
if I ever wondered how Id look out on the field running with the ball…that was it
As impressive as Elams running stlye was the equally impressive no look behind the back pass Plummer did. Honestly I felt that we were gonna fake it before the snap, I just didnt think it was gonna be that kind of fake. I would have thought that Jake would have rolled out and ran or did a patent pass on the run. Good stuff though Elam, it sure was funny as hell bro. Made the loss a lil easier to take.
-tha jOKER