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The Body Bag Game

Originally posted on The Forkball | By Julie Miller | Last updated 6/5/23

Once upon a time, a long time ago (November 12th, 1990), there was a game named “The Body Bag Game.” The cold Monday night football game was between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington. The Eagles took the win (28-14), but that’s of course not how the game got its name.

Why The Body Bag Game?

The nickname for this game originated with Philadelphia’s head coach, Buddy Ryan. Prior to the game, Ryan asserted that his team would win. He also said that the Washington team would have to be carted off in body bags.

Eagles safety William Frizzell solidified the nickname. He asked the Commanders bench if they would need any more body bags at one point during the game.

Granted, the name might not have stuck if Washington stayed healthy, but that was absolutely not the case. The Monday night football game would go down in history as one of the most injurious games in the modern football era.

Injury Report

Nine Washington players were injured during the game, one of whom left the game on a stretcher.

Starting QB Jeff Rutledge left the game with a broken thumb. Second-string QB Stan Humphries sustained a sprained knee; and kick returner Walter Stanley and linebacker Greg Manusky also left the game with sprained knees. In addition, RB Gerald Riggs couldn’t play after he sprained his foot. Wide receiver Joe Howard was carted off the field with a concussion.

The Washington head coach, Joe Gibbs, had this to say about the game: “I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a game where so many players went down. It seemed like every play.” The head coach was losing people left and right. This was in addition to the number of injured players sidelined before the game began due to prior injuries.

The Body Bag Game Highlight

Besides players getting injured right and left, there were other eventful situations during the game.

Washington was facing a Denver Broncos 2020 QB crisis-type scenario. Remember the Saturday game when all three QBs were out due to COVID exposure? And they had to bring out rookie wide receiver Kendall Hinton, who had played at the quarterback position for a short time in college. The Body Bag Game was like that.

Brian Mitchell was also a rookie in 1990. He had played quarterback in college but was a running back in the NFL. Unlike what happened with the Broncos, Mitchell actually did relatively well in his QB debut, but unfortunately not well enough to win the game.

Post-Game Takeaways

Mitchell would report that the commanders took their lashings seriously. The team took the injuries and the loss to heart and used those feelings to motivate them for the following season. USA Today has declared the 1991–1992 Washington team the sixth-best in NFL history. The team would win the Super Bowl in 1991.

Brian Mitchell also inspired a rule in the NFL. After the 1990 season, the rule was changed to allow a third quarterback to dress up but not count as a member of the game-day roster in case the two other QBs got injured.

Notably, Washington beat the Eagles later that season in a wild-card game. Buddy Ryan was also fired at the end of the season; people believe his body bag game declaration along with his ensuing loss to Washington, in addition to his dissing the owner and providing bounties to injure players on the opposing team, likely led to his career coming to an end. The Eagles would struggle for a while after the 1990 season.

We also learned how… devout Philly fans were. They weren’t concerned about the win much; instead, they recapped every violent moment, applauding their defense that was named “Gang Green” (fitting for The Body Bag Game). The Gang Green defense doled out three sacks, three interceptions, two touchdowns, and, most importantly, beat the stuffing out of Washington.

Want to read other eccentric stories? I have plenty here.

This article first appeared on The Forkball and was syndicated with permission.

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