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    Gridiron Heroics
    Home»NFL»Miami Dolphins»Winter is Coming: The Snowplow Game
    Miami Dolphins

    Winter is Coming: The Snowplow Game

    Julie MillerBy Julie MillerDecember 29, 2022Updated:March 24, 2024No Comments4 Mins Read
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    Snow plow game
    The infamous Snow Plow Game of 1982 (Mike Cullen/AP Photo).
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    The snowplow game aptly was named after one of the most infamous stunts in NFL history.

    towel incident - bears
    The Bear’s alleged guilty towel (Christiana D’Andrea/Twitter).

    This game was recently brought up when it was compared with the Bear’s attempt to use a towel to wipe up the swimming pool that the kicker was punting out of. At least the plow worked.

    Snow scooping
    Bills teammates used just their hands to clear the snow (Mark Konezny/USA Today Sports).

    It was also the reasoning behind the Buffalo Bills brushing snow away from Tyler Bass’s kicking location with just their hands in their game against the Miami Dolphins this season.

    When was the Snowplow Game?

    The Snowplow Game occurred between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins on December 12th of 1982 in Foxboro, MA.

    Where did the name come from?

    Snow plow tractor
    The snowplow is a permanent fixture in the teams Hall of Fame (@TheHall/Twitter).

    A snowplow clearing the snow for the kicker to make the game winning field goal (and only game points) in the last five minutes of the game.  The term snowplow is optimistic at best – it was actually a humble John Deere tractor with a brush attached to the front that’s usually used to clear leaves.

    Why was the Snowplow Game so influential (and controversial)?

    Many people earmark this as the beginning of the cheating scandals the Patriots are well known for.

    From the Dolphin’s perspective (and many others in the League) the Patriots had used the “snowplow” to clear a space for the kicker to kick a field goal. The Dolphins were shocked – the “snowplow” was only to be used to clear the yard markers.

    Cold patriot
    There are no photos of the Dolphins throwing literally everything on the sidelines in anger so instead a cold patriot warming their snowplowing hands will do (patriots.com).

    No one is quite sure who sent the Snowplow operator to clear the field – many say the coach, and the coach blamed the quarterback.

    The patriots feel quite different. They feel that the snowplow wasn’t even particularly helpful – the snowplow threw snow on to the area that players had cleared with their hands, and only hampered the process. Allegedly, players had to rush back to the spot to clear the area before time ran out.

    The snowplow game kick
    The Kick (Mike Kullen/AP Photo).

    In an act of what can be perceived as good will the Patriots offered to let the Dolphins use the snowplow to clear the area when they kick. The Dolphins were mortified by this unethical suggestion. Don Shula claims this was the most unfair thing he had been associated with in coaching.

    This game forever changed the rules – players can now only use their hands and feet to clear an area. Don Shula took this to the NFL commissioner, wanting the results of the game to be reversed. This didn’t happen because there was no rule on utilizing a snowplow up until that point.

    Karma
    …Karma? (NFL Network).

    Because the Miami Dolphins rise above problematic behaviors on the field, they sold plastic snowballs for fans to throw at the Patriots when they entered the field for years after.

    The Snowplow Game Hero

    Mark Henderson, the Snowplow operator is famous, memorialized in time as a local legend.

    Mr. Henderson was there on work release from a local prison. He joked about the controversy regarding his rogue snowplowing “what are they gonna do, throw me in jail?”

    Mr Henderson
    Mr. Henderson smiling at the 25th anniversary of the snowplow game with the game ball he was awarded for his snowplow performance.

    Players described this as one of the coldest games they have ever played in. Mr. Henderson operated this snowplow through the inclement weather cementing his place in NFL history.

    For hot takes on very chilly games in the future, keep up with my articles here.

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    Buffalo Bills Chicago Bears Don Shula Mark Henderson Miami Dolphins New England Patriots Snowplow game Tyler Bass
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    Avatar of Julie Miller
    Julie Miller

    Julie Miller has been a writer at Gridiron Heroics since July of 2022. She is an Epidemiologist with a focus on the intersection between sports and science. In result, Julie writes about sports injuries. She also enjoys writing about the history of football, and football affiliated true crime.

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