The greatest robbery in sports history

Fans of the Green Bay Packers usually remember a game played on September 24, 2012 against the Seahawks in Seattle as the greatest sports robbery in history. In a desperate drive, QB Russell Wilson threw a pass to the endzone to WR Golden Tate, the pass was also intercepted by CB M.D. Jennings, but caught by the WR, who had just committed interference on CB Sam Shields.

The replacement referees, due to a strike by the regular ones, couldn't agree, one called it a TD and the other an interception. After review, they ultimately gave the TD to Seattle, and therefore the victory. The reaction from the Packers' players and coaches was to leave the field as they believed it was all a charade, but it did serve a purpose, that same week the NFL and the referees reached an agreement that ended the strike.

Today is the day that many fans, especially those from Green Bay, still refer to as a robbery, but it is nothing more than an exercise in very short selective memory, if we go back to November 24, 1919, the Packers were the victims of a robbery that not even the greatest stagecoach robbery could surpass.

The Packers, coached by their owner and player Curly Lambeau, were an independent team at that time, not part of any organized league, although the NFL had not yet been born either. Professional football was a conglomerate of scattered teams in various leagues, many teams didn't play in any league, they were independent teams.

In 1919, Curly Lambeau agreed to play a game against another team called the Beloit Professionals, the championship of the state of Wisconsin was at stake, the most important prize back then. The game would be played in Beloit, their field had more capacity than Green Bay's, so the gate receipts would be much higher. The Pros, as the home team, were also in charge of appointing the referee, they chose a certain Baldy Zabel, a respected and reputable local citizen.

The Curly Lambeau's Packers soon realized that they not only played on enemy turf, but they were also playing against 12 players in a time when there were no substitutions other than for injury. Baldy Zabel may have been a respected citizen of Beloit, but his intention that day was clear, his city's team had to win the game no matter what, and he certainly threw himself into it.

The Packers were dominating the game but couldn't score. Every time the Packers approached the endzone to score a TD, Baldy Zabel made up a nonexistent penalty that pushed them back and made it impossible to score even a FG.

But the key play was yet to come, the Pros were on the Packers' five-yard line, after four downs they couldn't get in, however, on fourth down Zabel claimed that the Packers' defense was offside and gave the Pros another series of downs.

Meanwhile, the timekeeper had signaled the end of the first half by firing a shot in the air. However, Zabel claimed that due to the humidity the gun was malfunctioning and had gone off too soon, so he decided to add 5 seconds to the clock.

In that new down, the Pros, who were on the same one-yard line against the astonished Packers, took the opportunity to score a TD and take a 6-0 lead. Curly Lambeau threatened to leave the game at halftime, but he was reminded that he wouldn't receive his share of the gate receipts.

The game continued in the second half in the same vein. Zabel made up all kinds of penalties, he even called some from the old rulebook, which forced Curly Lambeau to pull out the book to prove that there was no such penalty.

Zabel also allowed the crowd to get involved in the game, every time Curly Lambeau attempted a passing play, he found that the spectators were responsible for interfering with his receivers on the sidelines, making it impossible to throw.

In the last quarter, Curly Lambeau cleanly entered the endzone, but Zabel claimed that the play had ended at the two-yard line in front of incredulous Packers. On the next play, Curly Lambeau scored again, but this time there was a nonexistent holding penalty called, which nullified the TD once again.

But the most outrageous play was still to come, a runner from the Packers eluded all the blocks and was heading straight for the endzone running closely along the sidelines, suddenly a spectator stuck out his leg and tripped the Green Bay player. The Packers protested and demanded the TD, but Zabel claimed that he hadn't seen anything and that the player had tripped on his own.

That was the last possession for the Packers. In the Pros' next possession, the timekeeper fired his gun, and this time there was no mistake. The Beloit Professionals were crowned state champions in that way, defeating Curly Lambeau's Green Bay Packers in what is considered the greatest sports robbery in history.

After the game, the Packers unsuccessfully tried to arrange a rematch by offering a huge sum of money, they even offered to play it in Beloit again, but the Pros refused. A Green Bay fan present stated to the press, "They knew they could only win by cheating. The game was an armed robbery, the only thing missing that day were masks and guns."