Eason Said Go Get It and Fryar Did : The Game Was Up for Grabs So the Patriots Grabbed It

Here’s how the final play of Sunday’s Ram-New England Patriot game was supposed to end:

The Patriots, trailing 28-23 with three seconds remaining and the ball on the Ram 25, would attempt one of those lollipop passes that work as often as a Zsa Zsa Gabor marriage. Patriot quarterback Tony Eason would heave the ball high and toward the end zone, where three wide receivers and about 41 Ram defensive backs would be waiting.

By play’s end, you’d think you were at a Venice Beach volleyball game, what with all the leaping and tipping. And as usual, the ball would fall harmlessly to the ground--it almost always does--and the Rams would tiptoe happily away with at least a half-game lead in the NFC West.

Ram Coach John Robinson would clench his fist and, in the postgame press conference, kiddingly tell reporters that he simply wanted Ram patrons to get their ticket’s worth.

Chuckle, chuckle.

Now for reality, which greeted the Rams with all the subtlety of an elbow to the throat.

See Eason throw.

See assorted jumps, tips and drama.

See Irving Fryar, the same guy who had fumbled two punts earlier in the game, catch Eason’s pass and score in the eerie silence of Anaheim Stadium.

And, by the way, happy 25th anniversary, Zsa Zsa.

This was a play that by almost all accounts, has no name. As best anyone can recall, it answers to the name of ‘Squadron Formation,’ which sounds more like a midnight movie starring Jackie Cooper and eight B-29s than a game-winning pass play. Call this play in the huddle and someone distributes rosaries.

“A name?” asked veteran quarterback Steve Grogan, who calls the plays for the Patriots. “Somebody-get-open. I mean, all you do is try to get a bunch of guys in the same area, throw it up there and if you can catch it on the first try, you catch it. If you can’t, the ball gets batted up and somebody else catches it.”

Oooh, the strategy of it all.

The Patriots, with a straight face, mind you, say they practice the play weekly. Or is it weakly? Three receivers are sent to the right side, another receiver lines up on the left side. A running back stays in to help block. At the snap, the three receivers congregate in the end zone, waiting for the ball and a minor miracle.

“We came close to it four or five times last year,” said Harold Jackson, the Patriot receivers coach. “It never worked. And it never comes close in practice.”

Said Eason, who finished with a record 36 completions for 375 yards and 2 touchdowns: “Once in a while (it works). Sure, for the defense it works a lot.”

With this, the Patriots ended an unlikely drive against the league’s least charitable defense. Starting from their own 13 and with 1:45 left to play, the Patriots moved to the Ram 25 in eight plays. They used short passes over the middle, quarterback scrambles and swing passes to running backs. They overcame an illegal forward pass penalty and converted a do-or-head-for-the-showers fourth-down play. Then they assembled in the huddle for a final pass, Eason presiding.

There was little conversation. Eason, after a brief sideline meeting with Grogan and Coach Raymond Berry, had this to say when returned:

“Hey, we’re going to do it. Go get the ball.”

Said running back Craig James: “Tony was demanding. There were no ifs, ands or buts. I don’t think anyone left that huddle with the intention of dropping that pass. It may have been up in the nickel seats, but it was going to be caught.”

Stanley Morgan took his place near the right sideline. About five yards to the inside was Cedric Jones. Fryar was positioned five yards to the inside of Jones. The plan was this: Jones, who can dunk a basketball with two hands, despite being 5-11, would tip Eason’s pass in the air. Morgan or Fryar would then catch it, or hope for a pass interference penalty. “But when it was thrown, two guys tried to hit me,” Jones said. “It was like a hockey game.”

Jones was knocked to the ground. That left Morgan and Fryar . . . and Ram defensive backs Jerry Gray, Mickey Sutton, Nolan Cromwell and Johnnie Johnson.

“We got three guys running all out,” Eason said. “You catch it and if you can’t catch it, you tip it up in the air and keep it alive.”

This is where Morgan comes in. He knew he wasn’t supposed to tip it; that was Jones’ chore. But Morgan mistimed his jump and so “on a gut feeling,” he half-pushed the ball into the air. “I was coming down and the only thing I could do was get one of my hands on it,” he said.

The ball moved toward the back of the end zone. Jones saw it coming toward him. He spread his hands in anticipation. “And then I just saw (Fryar) coming across. He jumped over me and caught the ball. It was incredible. I couldn’t believe it. Miraculous.”

Ram players fell to the ground in disbelief. Some pounded the turf. Others stared blankly at the scoreboard. “They were quiet,” Jones said. “The whole stadium was quiet.”

Meanwhile, Fryar’s first reaction was to look down at his feet--was he in bounds?--and then at the officials. Up went the officials’ arms and down went the Rams. “When I saw him go up,” Jackson said, “I knew he’d come down with it.”

Said Fryar: “I was in by a foot or a foot and a half. They tipped it back to me. (The Rams) were trying to tip it away and out-of-bounds. I call it a Hail Mary Pass and no, it doesn’t work in practice.”

And that’s the way it’s supposed to be, isn’t it? Desperation and Ave Marias.

Not Sunday, though. Sunday was for sandlot football, plays drawn in the grass and nothing ending as it should.