The most important investigation of 2019 is currently happening, and the result could have a lasting impact on America. Was there outside interference in Cody Parkey’s missed field goal in the Eagles’ win over the Bears?
Was the Bears double-doink field goal actually tipped? An investigation
How deep does the rabbit hole go?
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The NFL says yes:
But is the league just covering for Parkey? How deep does this go?
On first glance it looks like your run-of-the-mill shanked kick — with a double-doink thrown in for good measure. People love shanked kicks in pressure situations as they conjure images of “wide right,” but quickly the mood changed Sunday night and suddenly we had a conspiracy on our hands, all courtesy of a single tweet.
This wasn’t much of a smoking gun. Malcolm Jenkins relied on some sort of sport mysticism to believe the kick wasn’t going to be good — with the knowledge of Treyvon Hester’s tip as a throw in. Immediately people began to investigate the possibility that the missed kick was tipped, which started at the source.
Then film analysis began.
Really though, you can look at all this film and break down frames until your heart’s content. Nothing is absolutely conclusive which shows the ball was tipped, and nothing, except the league’s ruling, exists to say it wasn’t. This leaves us in a quandary ...
How do we definitively know if the ball was tipped?
After scouring for something — anything! — that proves Hester tipped the ball there was one piece of obvious, incontrovertible evidence that proves he got a piece of the kick.
More than believe, stronger than frame-by-frame footage is the unalienable truth that players cut by Jon Gruden would go on to be heroes for other teams. It worked for Khalil Mack, it worked for Amari Cooper and now Hester.
If you want to be an NFL star, the path is now simple: Play well enough to get cut by Gruden.
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