Green Bay Packers Take Home ESPY For Play of the Year

The ESPY Awards saw some deserving honorees for 2016. This included the Green Bay Packers who took the honor for Best Play.

This may have been the most competitive category of even as it included some of the most memorable moments of the year. There was LeBron James making his crucial block in the final seconds of Game 7 in the NBA Finals. Also included was Villanova forward Kris Jenkins winning buzzer beater to defeat North Carolina for the national championship of college basketball. Who could also forget the incredible muffed punt in the Michigan State-Michigan game that was returned for a touchdown, handing the Spartans an improbable victory.

However, none of those could quite match the sheer craziness of the Packers beating the Detroit Lions with zero seconds left on the clock with a 61-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to tight end Richard Rodgers.

The play capped a 20-point comeback for the Packers it what looked like a sure victory for what had been surging Lions team. What added to the wackiness of the moment was the fact that the play before Detroit had been called for a facemask penalty when Aaron Rodgers was tackled to the ground with no time left. Replay showed that the Lions defender never actually had a complete grasp of his facemask, but the call on the field stood. Green Bay had one more chance.

They took advantage of it.

One could say that victory saved their season. Up to that point the Packers had lost four of their last five games. At 7-4 it looked like they were in freefall. The offense hadn’t managed more than 18 points for three-straight games. They finished the final four games of the year at 2-2, securing a 10-6 record and a wild card playoff berth. So it’s hard to argue that this fateful play at Ford Field might be the single reason they even reached the postseason.