There were so many things that went into making the Kick Six a special game and moment. There was the way Auburn was so discounted throughout the season. There were the naysayers who kept anticipating the axe to fall on upstart Auburn.
There was the pre-game rankings and hype that pushed it into the "Greatest Game of the Best Rivalry" echelon.
There was the miraculous end of Auburn's rivalry game against Georgia on that very field just two weeks prior.
There was the masterful orchestration of the tying touchdown in the last minute of the game.
There was the fact the unforgettable last second play was made possible only by a chain of actions from a coach used to having everyone kiss his tail as one of the greatest coaches of all time. Instead, his mistake-laden chain of dominoes highlighted what has long been one of his chief criticisms as a mediocre strategist and in-game decision maker.
But the best part, for me, was the way it took all the air out of what AJ McCarron was already counting as his shining moment of glory. After the Tide signal caller was lucky enough to have Amari Cooper turn his wounded duck pass from his own goal line into the longest TD pass of rivalry history, McCarron was sensing a victorious evening in the New York Athletic Club. Tide radio man and noted blowhard Eli Gold explicitly said as much on the radio cast with his "...and that, ladies and gentlemen, is your Heisman moment" while McCarron sprinted down the field in full histrionics at his fortune.
Then there was the revelation McCarron had cockily staged a "special" moment on the sidelines. It was there his publicity-starved family and girlfriend were escorted into an area normally off limits to all but sideline personnel along with a CBS camera crew. It was apparent the cameras were supposed to capture a triumphant Heisman finalist proposing to his girlfriend so as to put him over the top in awards voting.
Instead what was captured was a crestfallen, poor loser sprinting straight off the field, refusing to engage in a ritual of sportsmanship drilled into competitive athletes from their formative years. The brief consolation he received from his girlfriend and mother outside the tunnel to the locker room had to be bitter salve for him.
And sweet enough to put the cherry on one tasty outcome.
There was the pre-game rankings and hype that pushed it into the "Greatest Game of the Best Rivalry" echelon.
There was the miraculous end of Auburn's rivalry game against Georgia on that very field just two weeks prior.
There was the masterful orchestration of the tying touchdown in the last minute of the game.
There was the fact the unforgettable last second play was made possible only by a chain of actions from a coach used to having everyone kiss his tail as one of the greatest coaches of all time. Instead, his mistake-laden chain of dominoes highlighted what has long been one of his chief criticisms as a mediocre strategist and in-game decision maker.
But the best part, for me, was the way it took all the air out of what AJ McCarron was already counting as his shining moment of glory. After the Tide signal caller was lucky enough to have Amari Cooper turn his wounded duck pass from his own goal line into the longest TD pass of rivalry history, McCarron was sensing a victorious evening in the New York Athletic Club. Tide radio man and noted blowhard Eli Gold explicitly said as much on the radio cast with his "...and that, ladies and gentlemen, is your Heisman moment" while McCarron sprinted down the field in full histrionics at his fortune.
Then there was the revelation McCarron had cockily staged a "special" moment on the sidelines. It was there his publicity-starved family and girlfriend were escorted into an area normally off limits to all but sideline personnel along with a CBS camera crew. It was apparent the cameras were supposed to capture a triumphant Heisman finalist proposing to his girlfriend so as to put him over the top in awards voting.
Instead what was captured was a crestfallen, poor loser sprinting straight off the field, refusing to engage in a ritual of sportsmanship drilled into competitive athletes from their formative years. The brief consolation he received from his girlfriend and mother outside the tunnel to the locker room had to be bitter salve for him.
And sweet enough to put the cherry on one tasty outcome.
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