November 18, 1985: Lawrence Taylor Breaks Joe Theismann's Leg

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November 18, 1985, 40 years ago: One of the nastiest-looking injuries in NFL history occurs, before a national audience on ABC's Monday Night Football.

The New York Giants were a team on the rise, coached by Bill Parcells, quarterbacked by Phil Simms, and with a great defense led by linebacker Lawrence Taylor. Even before it was known that L.T. was a heavy cocaine user, he was seen as a bit unhinged: One NFL Films clip showed him exhorting his teammates by saying, "Hey, baby, let's go out there like a bunch of crazed dogs!"

The Washington Redskins were in the middle of the greatest run in team history. Under coach Joe Gibbs, they had won Super Bowl XVII, reached but lost Super Bowl XVIII, and were the defending NFC Eastern Division Champions. They were quarterbacked by Joe Theismann, from South River, New Jersey, a Notre Dame graduate with a big mouth, but also a strong arm that tended to back his words up. But not always.

He was protected by an offensive line known as "The Hogs": Center Jeff Bostic, guards Russ Grimm and Raleigh McKenzie, and tackles Joe Jacoby and Mark May. They had Hall of Fame running back John Riggins to hand off to, and had an elite receiving corps known as "The Fun Bunch," including Art Monk and Gary Clark Their defense was really good, too, from linemen Charles Mann and Dexter Manley to cornerback Darrell Green, generally regarded as the fastest player in the NFL.

The Giants were 7-4. The Redskins were 5-5. On October 20, the Giants beat the Redskins, 17-3 at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands. Now, they were playing at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, where the Redskins had one of the best home-field advantages in the League.

I was 15, and a junior at East Brunswick High School in Central Jersey, and the Giants were one of the local teams. On top of that, I really enjoyed watching the Redskins: They were, indeed, a fun bunch. So I was watching this game.

Each team scored in the 1st quarter. Theismann threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Don Warren, but the Giants equalized on a 56-yard touchdown run. The score was still 7-7 in the 2nd quarter, when Gibbs called for a flea-flicker: Theismann handed off to Riggins, who then spun and lateraled back to Theismann.

But Theismann couldn't find an open receiver, and the blitz was on. Taylor grabbed Theismann and tackled him. Taylor's knee fell on Theismann's lower right leg, breaking both the tibia (the central bone in the lower leg) and the fibula (the thinner bone on the side of the leg). Taylor's fellow linebackers, Harry Carson and Gary Reasons, came into assist on the sack.

To me, at first, the tackle didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. But after about 5 seconds, Taylor began waving his arm at the sideline, to call over the Redskins' trainer. He put his hands up to his head, as if to say, "Oh my God, what have I done?" If Lawrence Taylor is spooked, you know something very bad has happened.

Jim Burt, the Giants' nose tackle, made the same gesture, even though he wasn't involved in the tackle. Carson was, and took off his helmet so that his call for help could be better heard. Grimm, the only member of the "Hogs" who has, thus far, been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, also began waving for someone to come over.

ABC then showed a reverse angle of the play, and the break of Theismann's leg could be clearly seen. Frank Gifford, the 1st man to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as both a player and an announcer, kept describing the images being shown to the TV audience. Gifford's broadcast partner twice said, "Augh!" at the sight. That partner was O.J. Simpson.

Theismann was 36 years old, so it's not clear how much longer he would have played anyway. Regardless, he never played again, and having his career end at that point may have kept him from being elected to the Hall of Fame. Taylor apologized. Theismann told him that he shouldn't feel bad, that he was just doing his job.

Jay Schroeder was sent in to be the new Redskin quarterback. The score was still 7-7 at halftime. And yet, Schroeder rallied his shocked teammates to victory. He got them to the Giants' 1-yard line in the 3rd quarter, and Riggins scored, the 103rd touchdown of his Hall of Fame career. There would be only 1 more, as he retired after the season.

Joe Morris scored 2 more touchdowns for the Giants, putting them up 21-14. But a field goal by Mark Moseley and a pass from Schroeder to Clint Didier, both in the 4th quarter, gave the Redskins a 23-21 win.

In other words, the team that lost their quarterback to one of the nastiest injuries in NFL history ended up winning the game.

Both teams made the Playoffs. Neither team reached the Super Bowl. The following season, the Giants won Super Bowl XXI. The season after that, the Redskins won Super Bowl XXII -- but not with Schroeder as their quarterback. He lost his job to Doug Williams, who became the 1st black quarterback to win a Super Bowl.