The wildest game-ending plays

The words “Kick Six” say it all, even if that wasn’t a phrase before it happened. Anytime Alabama and Auburn take the field for the Iron Bowl, it draws a lot of eyeballs. This was perhaps the greatest Iron Bowl of them all, though. The Tide and Tigers were tied 28-28, with the Tide going for a last-second field goal. If they missed, the game would go to overtime…right? Wrong! Chris Davis fielded the short attempt, running the ball back 109 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

The most-famous play in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl is Boise State’s hook-and-ladder that got the game into overtime. However, that didn’t end the game. You know what did, though? It was a Statue of Liberty play that got the ball in the hands of Ian Johnson for the winning touchdown. Oh, and then Johnson proposed to his girlfriend. This is perhaps the most fun college football game ever.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. So confident was Kentucky’s players that they were going to beat LSU that they had given coach Guy Morriss a Gatorade bath. Then LSU managed to pull off a 74-yard Hail Mary resulting in a Tigers win in what has come to be known as the Bluegrass Miracle.

You would think the goal that gave the Blackhawks their first Stanley Cup since 1961 would have immediately led to a ton of celebration. Instead, it led to a good deal of confusion. The Blackhawks and Flyers were playing in overtime of Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, when Patrick Kane blasted a shot toward the Flyers’ goal. It proceeded to get stuck in the padding…which meant nobody seemed to know where the puck had gone, save for Kane. This led to a lengthy review. When that finally ended, Chicago could celebrate.

You know those football plays where teams throw a bunch of laterals in the hopes of scoring a touchdown? It almost never works. For once, though, it did. Back in 2003, the Saints used three laterals on the final play to score against the Jaguars to make it 20-19. All they needed to do was kick the extra point. Yeah…about that. John Carney missed, and the Jags held on to the win.

Good thing Kris Jenkins’ shot got off before the buzzer. Not because we were rooting for Villanova to win the 2016 title over North Carolina. No. It’s because as soon as the ball went through the hoop, the confetti began to fall. If the review had shown his shot was late, that would have been quite the mess to clean up.

C’mon, what play is more iconic than this? Cal’s insane touchdown to beat Stanford is one of the most memorable events in sports. Of course, a lot of that is because the Stanford band was on the field when it happened, and one poor Cardinal band member got walloped as the touchdown was scored.

Technically, Reggie didn’t beat the buzzer to get Indiana a win in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals. However, what he did was honestly more impressive. The Knicks were up 105-99 with 18.7 seconds left. Nothing to worry about, right? Not with Miller on the court. The Hall of Famer proceeded to score eight points in a mere nine seconds to give the Pacers the 107-105 lead, which ended up being the final score of the game.

Van de Velde’s time on the PGA Tour was limited, but he will always be remembered for the 1999 British Open. On the final hole of the final day, all the Frenchman needed was a double bogey to win. Six strokes on a par 4. What happened next was crazy. He hit a stone wall. He ended up in a water hazard. In the end, he triple bogeyed the hole. Sure, there was a playoff after that, which he lost to Paul Lawrie, but this still has to count.

Poor Bill Buckner. Just when it seems like everybody has moved on from his error in the 1986 World Series, a list like this rolls around. We’ve seen the image of the ball going through his legs to give the Mets the Game 6 win countless times. Fortunately for him, the Red Sox have won a few World Series since then.

Gibson hitting a home run in and of itself wasn’t shocking in a vacuum. It’s the context that matters. Gibson was dealing with injuries to both his legs in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. However, he still came up to pinch hit against ace closer Dennis Eckersley in the bottom of the ninth inning. Despite his leg issues, Gibson managed to hit a two-run, game-winning home run to give the Dodgers the victory. It was his only at-bat of the entire series.

Things happen in the chaos of a high-stakes basketball game. That unfortunately got the better of Chris Webber in the 1993 men’s college basketball finals. The Wolverines were down two points with 11 seconds left in the game. Webber brought the ball up the court but was then trapped. Naturally, he called a timeout. The only problem? Michigan had no timeouts left. North Carolina made the technical free throw and went on to win the game.

Boxing doesn’t really have “plays,” but we have to mention this bit of insanity. Or should we say “bite” of insanity? Mike Tyson is a problematic figure in a controversial sport, but this was his craziest in-ring moment. While boxing Evander Holyfield, Tyson bit off a piece of his opponent’s ear. Naturally, this led to him being disqualified. Shockingly, it wasn’t the last time he ever fought.

This is a pretty fresh one, but it is likely to remain in our memories for a while. Some call the end of this 2015 matchup the craziest finish ever, and that’s only partially recency bias. All Michigan needed to do was complete a punt and not let Michigan State return it for a touchdown. The Wolverines would then get a much-needed win over their in-state rivals. Then the punter fumbled the ball. Then the punter tried to pick it up and still get a punt off. This led to something of an accidental backward lateral, which a Spartan picked up and returned to the end zone for the stunning win.

Jordan had so many iconic moments, but this one is high on the list. It would be even higher if MJ had stayed retired after the 1998 NBA Finals. With the Bulls down by one in Game 6, Jordan managed to steal the ball late and dribble down the court. Bryon Russell tried to guard him, but Jordan was able to hit a mid-range shot to give Chicago an 87-86 lead with 5.2 seconds left. The Bulls hung on, and Jordan got his sixth ring.

Given the scale of the World Cup, the stakes of a shootout in the finals are truly massive. That goes double when the teams involved are Italy and Brazil. Fortunately Italy had star Roberto Baggio coming up for a must-make penalty kick. He puts it in the net, and the Azzuri’s dream stays alive. Instead he missed the net entirely, and Brazil won the 1994 World Cup.

All right, so this isn’t as “game-ending” as some others. However, it was late, and it wasn’t just game-winning, but it was series-winning. The Edmonton Oilers, the team of the ‘80s, were in a Game 7 against the Calgary Flames in 1986. They had won the previous two Cups, and they were in a game tied 2-2 in the third period. Then Steve Smith, a rookie defenseman, put a puck off his goalie Grant Fuhr’s pads. The Flames won 3-2 and took the series. Edmonton would be fine, to be fair, winning the Cup in ’87 and ’88.

Walk-off home runs are great! Any walk-off hit is a delight in the World Series, to be fair. However, what about walk-off obstruction? Confused? We get it. Let us try to explain. In Game 3 of the 2013 World Series, the Cardinals and Red Sox were dueling in the ninth inning. St. Louis’ Allen Craig got all tied up with Boston’s Will Middlebrooks at third base. He still tried to score but was tagged out at home. Ah, but that wasn’t the end of it. Third-base umpire Jim Joyce declared that Middlebrooks had obstructed Craig, and it was determined by the umps that Craig would have scored had he not been interfered with. Thus, the Cardinals got the win.

Liverpool won the 2005 Champions League Final in a shootout over AC Milan, which is partially why this game got here. It’s what came before that, though, that really made this a crazy finish. Liverpool was down 3-0 at halftime. The game was all but over. Except the Reds proceeded to score three goals in the second half, and THEN they won a shootout.

The Connecticut Huskies had won 111 games in a row at the time of this matchup, so the fact Mississippi State won at all makes the end of this game incredible. How do you make an upset for the ages even better? The Bulldogs won 66-64 in overtime thanks to a buzzer beater from Morgan William, a 5-foot-5 point guard. Now that’s how you make a memorable ending.