September 11, 2005; Charlotte, NC, USA; Aaron Brooks #2 of the New Orleans Saints waits to begin the final drive during a 23-20 win over the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Photo By Grant Halverson-Imagn Images Grant Halverson-Imagn Images

Jaguars' 'River City Relay' Lands on Top List

Originally posted on Jacksonville Jaguars on SI
By John Shipley | Last updated Jul 7, 2025 3:05 PM ET

The Jacksonville Jaguars have had plenty of memorable moments since the year 2000.

Their playoff thrillers against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their AFC Championship heartbreaker to the New England Patriots when Myles Jack wasn't down. The 2022 playoff comeback against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Heck, even Derrick Henry running all over their entire defense for the best run of his career in 2018. These are all lasting images of the Jaguars this century.

But none of these moments ended up on a prestigious list from CBS Sports on the top-25 NFL moments of the last 25 years.

Instead, the lone Jaguars moment to make the list was none other than 'The River City Relay' from 2003, which took the No. 16 spot.

The story of The River City Relay is one of the most unlikely in sports.

With seven seconds left in a game the Jaguars led the New Orleans Saints 20-13 in, Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks dropped back to pass hoping for a miracle.

He ended up getting one, and he did not even need a Hail Mary to make it happen.

"There was nothing inherently special about a late-December matchup between two measly Jaguars and Saints teams. Until the Saints used not one, not two, but three laterals on the final play from scrimmage -- initially a short pass from Aaron Brooks -- to threaten a comeback in the game's final seven seconds. The improbability of Jerome Pathon's score was topped only by John Carney's ensuing extra-point miss," CBS Sports said.

The fact the Jaguars still won the game is as ludicrous as the play itself. But the Jaguars pulled out the win during the 5-11 season, which was Jack Del Rio's first year as head coach.

After the ousting of original head coach Tom Coughlin, the Jaguars were in a completely new era in 2003. Had the Jaguars lost the game on a play like this one, it would have had the potential to truly send the start of the Del Rio era in a tailspin.

Instead, the Jaguars improved beyond 2003 and even had a couple of playoff appearances under Del Rio -- what could have been had not for the River City Relay.