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stephen holder
It’s become a strangely familiar scene: A player charging toward the end zone, well out of reach of defenders, with a touchdown looking like a certainty.
And then …
Just before crossing the goal line, the ball carrier suffers a huge lapse in judgment and drops the ball, then sometimes tries to recover it as it bounces out of the back of the end zone. After review, the apparent touchdown is overturned and converted to a touchback, giving possession back to the opposing team.
This has happened in each of the last two weeks, and teams suffering from those mistakes will meet on Sunday when indianapolis colts host the Arizona Cardinals ,1 p.m. ET, Fox,
cardinals running back imari demercado It was the latest man to make that mistake when he dropped the ball just short of the goal line on a 72-yard touchdown. tennessee titans On Sunday. The ball bounced out of the back of the end zone for a touchback. Demercado’s error helped pave the way for the Titans to rally from a 21-6 deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter have to win 22-21,
“Got to be smarter,” Demercado said in a somber postgame interview. “simple as that.”
A week ago, Colts receiver adonai michel Saw that dazzling 76-yard touchdown reception turn into a terrifying experience. When he attempted to celebrate by holding the ball with one hand in front of him, he dropped the ball a few inches short of the goal line. It bounced out of the end zone for a touchback and ultimately resulted in a 7-point loss. Los Angeles Rams,
“This play is sad,” he said later. “It hurts a lot.”
The increased frequency has increased awareness among coaches and players.
“Every time it happens, you bring it up [to the team],” Titans coach Brian Callahan said. “We have a saying: ‘Letters and logos.’ You never, never, never, never – under any circumstances – let the ball go until you see the letters and logo in the end zone. And I know every team in the league preaches the same thing.
“It’s crazy to me that this keeps happening. I know it’s being coached everywhere in the league. And it comes up three or four times a year, which is crazy to me.”
And this is not a recent incident.
East philadelphia eagles star desean jackson erred against dallas cowboys In front of a national television audience on “Monday Night Football” in 2008. Play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico marked the moment with a loud call, and referred to it as “one of the all-time boneheaded plays.”
What sets these events apart from others – like the failed celebration of Cowboys DL leon late On recovering from a fumble and comeback in Super Bowl XXVII – that is, the ball did not fall away from Demercado or Mitchell. Lay held the ball outside to celebrate and buffalo bill‘Don Beebe knocked it loose, and it went through the end zone for a touchback.
But there are examples of players dropping the ball without any help.
Demercado, Cardinals, 2025
DeMarcado’s play of 71 yards was the longest of his career.
I wish it were half a yard longer.
It happened again 😱
The Cardinals took a 72-yard TD off the board. pic.twitter.com/BMDvEYklhC
– NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) 5 October 2025
When he snapped the ball with 12:51 remaining in the game, the Cardinals led 21–6 and a potential touchdown would have iced the game. Instead, Demercado became a footnote in history and Arizona lost.
This was a reality that his coach did not handle well. Jonathan Gannon was seen yelling at Demercado on the sideline after the play. Gannon apologized on Monday, saying he regretted his behavior. And on Monday evening, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Cardinals Gannon is being fined $100,000. For his sideline altercation with Demercado. This was a sharp contrast to the response to the aggressive attack. paris johnson jr., who consoled Demercado after the play and tried to cheer him up during the difficult times.
“I wanted to be one of the first guys to find him on the sidelines and tell him, ‘Hey, brush it off and keep moving forward,'” Johnson said. “I wanted to make sure that she heard it from someone up front, and that she didn’t pay attention to people’s stares and stares and mutterings left and right. I wanted to create an energy around her.”
Mitchell, Colts, 2025
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better catch-and-run than Mitchell’s 75-yard game against the Rams in the NFL this season. He made a late adjustment to an underthrown pass from the quarterback. Daniel JonesHe then used a spin move to free himself from two defenders, whom he ran down the sideline.
The ball is out before it crosses the goal line. It’s a touchback!
INDvsLAR on Fox/Fox Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/DtuT1kDX9s
– NFL (@NFL) 28 September 2025
But he did all that work only to drop the ball before it reached the goal line. Mitchell seemed to realize his mistake in real time, chasing the ball down but being unable to stop it before it bounced into the back of the end zone.
This was not only a costly mistake, but also a disappointing one. Coach Shane Steichen has been regularly urging his players to be mindful of such mistakes since the Colts returned jonathan taylorA similar mistake was made last season, but Mitchell may not have got the message.
For that reason, Steichen left the errant youngster out of the starting lineup last Sunday.
“He has to earn it,” Steichen said.
Battle, a safety, was a half-step away from his first career touchdown after avoiding a Titans tackle and running 61 yards toward the end zone, but just before crossing the goal line, he carelessly lost control of the ball.
“As soon as I did it, I knew,” Battle recalled Tuesday. “It slipped through my fingers. I knew exactly when it happened. That’s why I told.” [teammates] “No celebrating when I score.”
The play was ruled a touchback and Tennessee got the ball. And Battle still never scored a touchdown.
pain😩
Battle fumbled the ball before it crossed the goal line ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/oTQRybH6O4
– Fox Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) 15 December 2024
“It’s a weird feeling,” Battle said.
Battle offered advice to other players who may find themselves in a similar situation.
“Just run into the end zone with the ball and then celebrate,” he said.
And if he’s ever in a similar situation again, he said, “I might run to the locker room.”
Taylor, Colts, 2024
In a key game of the season against the Broncos, Taylor ran for a 41-yard touchdown. The touchdown would have given the Colts a two-touchdown lead in a contest that had significant implications for the AFC wild-card race.
Call overturned! This TD was ruled a touchback 😳 pic.twitter.com/jRlTeq9QQs
– NFL (@NFL) 15 December 2024
But the 2021 rushing champion did the unthinkable, dropped the ball just before it reached the goal line and started celebrating. After replays saw the Broncos regain possession, the Colts lost significant momentum and, ultimately, the game.
Taylor later said, “It just can’t happen, no matter what the game, no matter what the scenario.”
What should have been the pinnacle of Corley’s football career turned out to be his most regrettable moment. On his second touchdown of the season, the rookie receiver was handed the ball around and found a clear path to the end zone down the sideline. But he let the ball go just before crossing the goal line and his first touchdown was overturned.
td @CorleyMalachi,#HOUvsNYJ But @NFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/PSt7uVeRru
– New York Jets (@nyjets) 1 November 2024
houston texans The game resulted in him being awarded the ball after a touchback, and Corley’s 18-yard run was the last time he saw the football that night.
Luckily for him, Jets win 21-13And a week after the game, he wasn’t letting the disappointment from the game linger.
“You take things with a grain of salt,” he said at the time. “You play this game for a long time and you see a lot more and a lot less embarrassing things happen on the field. For me, it was a great learning experience overall. I was still super excited to be able to run across the end zone line and jet around the field and do all that type of stuff. So overall it was fun.”
Corley, a third-round pick, was released after the season and is now with cleveland brownsHe has yet to score a touchdown.
There’s probably nothing better for a defensive player than scoring a touchdown. Trevathan, a former Broncos linebacker, was headed for his first career TD when he picked off the then-Ravens quarterback. Joe Flacco And ran towards the end zone.
But Trevathan dropped the ball before it crossed the goal line and the ball bounced out of bounds in the end zone. Baltimore was awarded possession on the touchback and Trevathan would have to wait two more years before scoring the only touchdown of his career.
“It was a youthful mistake,” Trevathan, who was in his second season at the time, said after the Broncos’ blowout win. “It won’t happen again.”
Jackson, Eagles, 2008
Jackson, in his prime, was one of the most electric players in football, and this game was a perfect example. eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb Dropped back and fired a deep ball down the seam to the rookie wideout, who got behind the Dallas defense. Jackson caught the ball quickly and crossed the goal line without touching it.
But while doing this he forgot football. Jackson, perhaps in a hurry to celebrate the 61-yard touchdown, threw the ball aside before it crossed the plane and the Cowboys called the game. The touchdown was overturned and the ball was downed at the 1-yard line as there was no immediate recovery by the Cowboys. The Eagles retained possession at the 1-yard line and eventually scored, but the memories of the game remained.
“A lot of people have messed with me about this,” Jackson, now the head coach at Delaware State, said at the time. “But I’m just going to get on with it. I’ve got a lot more football to play.”
The Eagles lost the game, 41-37,
Turon Davenport, Josh Weinfuss and Ben Baby contributed to this report.
