Simmons: Owens catch vs the Packers in the playoffs

will never give a Giant any credit...

Pretty much concedes the Tyree catch is the greatest ever:

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But what if you’re a giant homer who can’t live in a world in which the obvious choice (the Tyree FML Helmet Catch) is your answer? Then you’re going off the board. So I believe that Terrell Owens made the greatest catch ever. Lemme set the scene …

Calls the helmet catch the greatest catch, but CAN'T end with it. He is admitting he is a homer, and admits that catch is the greatest, and it great he calls it the FML Helmet catch.

catch is, but he's a homer and can't accept that.

which is why he selected the Owens catch.

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My short list of greatest catches is determined by the following formula: “degree of difficulty” plus “impact in the moment” multiplied by “the stakes of the game itself.” So Lynn Swann’s Super Bowl tip catch is way up there. Same for Santonio Holmes’s Super Bowl–winning catch, Franco Harris’s Immaculate Reception and the Tyree FML Helmet Catch. And the truth is, Tyree’s catch is probably your answer. He caught it off his helmet, fended off Rodney Harrison, somehow kept the ball from hitting the ground and single-handedly swung a Super Bowl. Oh, and he never caught another pass. So that’s a worthy candidate.

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But what if you’re a giant homer who can’t live in a world in which the obvious choice (the Tyree FML Helmet Catch) is your answer? Then you’re going off the board. So I believe that Terrell Owens made the greatest catch ever. Lemme set the scene …

I don't think he means NY Giants homer, I think he just means a big homer (like he is a Big Patriots homer).

at least that's my interpreation.

I haven't seen a catch like that before or since, and it was done in an enormous situation.

David Tyree should never have to pay for another meal in the NYC metro area ever again.

In comment 12002543 pjcas18 said:

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I don't think he means NY Giants homer, I think he just means a big homer (like he is a Big Patriots homer). at least that's my interpreation.

Yea, horrible choice of words there. I had to read it a couple times, but your interpretation is correct (note lower case "g")

as a big ingredient when debating the greatest catch or play ever, that's fine.

IF you talking from a purely athletic POV? Beckham's catch was stupid. It might not be the best but you will never see a better catch again. Not sure WTF Simmons is talking about.

occur in almost every game every single week. It was one of the most dramatic and tough catches ever but hardly the greatest.

In comment 12002564 djm said:

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occur in almost every game every single week. It was one of the most dramatic and tough catches ever but hardly the greatest.

This. Simmons' points are fine, but his selection is odd. Trying to be different, I guess.

with the clock ticking down to win a post season game in order for it to be great?

We are having the second shitty season in a row, can the guy give us something?

Odell would have been able to grab that pass that sailed behind him that Welker couldn't haul in.

In comment 12002591 David in LA said:

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Odell would have been able to grab that pass that sailed behind him that Welker couldn't haul in.

Zing!

Watch the video. The ball is right in his hands and all he has to do is hold when he gets hit. If he dropped it, he would have been crucified. It is so far from the greatest catch ever. Its probably not the best catch on a given Sunday afternoon.

inb4 Rice fumbled on the drive before (and lost it) and it went uncalled and unchallenged because of no replay that year thus, never happened. Or shouldn't have happened.

In comment 12002591 David in LA said:

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Odell would have been able to grab that pass that sailed behind him that Welker couldn't haul in.

With one hand of course.

In comment 12002577 GP said:

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In comment 12002564 djm said: Quote: occur in almost every game every single week. It was one of the most dramatic and tough catches ever but hardly the greatest. This. Simmons' points are fine, but his selection is odd. Trying to be different, I guess.

I'd put the Manningham sideline catch ahead of this Owens catch too. Over the shoulder catch along the sideline with tight coverage. Plus a (the?) crucial play in a SB victory...



(the Manningham play has to be up there for "greatest throws" of all-time too).

In comment 12002701 RC02XX said:

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In comment 12002591 David in LA said: Quote: Odell would have been able to grab that pass that sailed behind him that Welker couldn't haul in. With one hand of course.

while being tackled

catch was obviously at a more important stage of a more important game, but beckham's was the more difficult athletic and ridiclous catch.

there aren't enough buckets to hold it.

That being said, there are two definitions of greatest
catches in play. One where the catch was significant in the outcome of the game. The other is the sheer athleticism involved in the catch.

That ball was right in Owen's hands. The hero there is Steve Young. If we go by Simmons stupid definition, how about Eli to Manningham in the Niners game? The Steelers guy (name I forget, sorry). That one was tremendous.

"The other is the sheer athleticism involved in the catch" And that would be Beckham, hands and away. It was light years ahead of any great football catch I've ever seen.

In comment 12002715 Montreal Man said:

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there aren't enough buckets to hold it. That being said, there are two definitions of greatest catches in play. One where the catch was significant in the outcome of the game. The other is the sheer athleticism involved in the catch. That ball was right in Owen's hands. The hero there is Steve Young. If we go by Simmons stupid definition, how about Eli to Manningham in the Niners game? The Steelers guy (name I forget, sorry). That one was tremendous.

Yup. And the best part is that by either definition, a Giant holds the "record"!

just another catch. A good one, but not outrageous. It is seen every week. Guys makes a catch, gets piballed, holds on.

In comment 12002712 GIANTSr01 said:

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In comment 12002701 RC02XX said: Quote: In comment 12002591 David in LA said: Quote: Odell would have been able to grab that pass that sailed behind him that Welker couldn't haul in. With one hand of course. while being tackled

Only humanly possible way to make a more difficult catch is to have Odell blindfolded, hanging upside down in a straitjacket.

In comment 12002715 Montreal Man said:

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there aren't enough buckets to hold it. That being said, there are two definitions of greatest catches in play. One where the catch was significant in the outcome of the game. The other is the sheer athleticism involved in the catch. That ball was right in Owen's hands. The hero there is Steve Young. If we go by Simmons stupid definition, how about Eli to Manningham in the Niners game? The Steelers guy (name I forget, sorry). That one was tremendous.

I agree. Owens didn't make a great catch; he ran a great route and did a great job holding on to the great pass thrown by Young. But Young hit him in the hands, in stride, perfectly.

This is a thread full of people hating on Simmons for sport.

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So how great was the Beckham catch? Will it stand the test of time? It’s certainly the most acrobatic NFL catch ever — highest degree of difficulty, greatest display of athleticism, you name it. But it also happened in the middle of a Giants loss during a completely forgettable Giants season. You can’t call it the GREATEST catch when it had no real impact other than owning the Internet for about 18 hours.

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And the truth is, Tyree’s catch is probably your answer. He caught it off his helmet, fended off Rodney Harrison, somehow kept the ball from hitting the ground and single-handedly swung a Super Bowl.

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But what if you’re a giant homer who can’t live in a world in which the obvious choice (the Tyree FML Helmet Catch) is your answer? Then you’re going off the board. So I believe that Terrell Owens made the greatest catch ever. Lemme set the scene …

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Other than the Tyree FML Helmet Catch, I was more amazed by that T.O. catch than by any other important NFL catch I’ve ever watched.

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What’s better than that? Beckham’s catch was spectacular and impossible, but it also didn’t mean anything. Tyree’s catch was impossible and inconceivable, but when you factor in the rest of his underwhelming career, you’d have to call it at least a little lucky. (Do me a favor — just concede me that point, and I’ll concede that I’m a humongous homer.)

How many more times in one column does he need to say that Beckham's catch was the best catch (context notwithstanding) ever, or that Tyree's helmet catch was the greatest catch ever (context included) but he doesn't want to pick it for self-deprecating homer reasons?

Manningham's catch was much more difficult. You can ague on Owen's catch that the throw as better as you could with Mario's. Beckum and Tyree's are on a completely different level.

tad - he basically makes the point that the moment was not an important moment for the catch and that in assessing it's impact - in what was virtually a meaningless game is what diminishes it - he gives Beckham full credit for the athleticism, amazingness and improbability of the catch

talking about....

that is the same EXACT catch that Vernon Davis made when SF beat the Saints a pass from Alex Smith to win the game.


pfffft...

In comment 12003425 whobetta said:

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talking about.... that is the same EXACT catch that Vernon Davis made when SF beat the Saints a pass from Alex Smith to win the game. pfffft...

Yep.. that is the catch I remember, not the Owens one. So it happened twice.

Making the tougher catch necessary?

that Eli's throw to Beckham was a terrible one. So anyone wondering where the debate about the quality of the pass began, it was probably in Simmons's column.