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November 16, 2009

Quintin Harlan: Mind what you have been taught

Anyone who has participated in athletics at any level usually has some memory of some minute detail that they carry with them seemingly forever.

Lessons learned from sports to apply to life are a major thing. I’m talking some little thing that’s seemingly meaningless from days gone by that for whatever reason stay with you well past your playing days.

Four little words have been ingrained into my mind for the last 15 years.

And no, it’s not “Bear down, Chicago Bears.” Those four words have been ingrained for over 32 years now thank you very much.

No the words in question are “Snap, catch, hold, kick.”

Those words, in that exact order go through my mind and out of my mouth every time I see a team lineup to attempt a field goal or an extra point.

The first time I heard these words, they were being pounded into my mind by former Anderson High School football coach Mr. P.T. Morgan.

I played just one year for Coach Morgan but those are four words that I still remember every time I see Robbie Gould get set to kick a field goal on Sundays for the Bears.

Thursday’s were time-up days for the football team and it was the day of the week we spent the most amount of time on with the Field Goal/PAT team. I was a guard on that unit and I still remember the drill. When the ball was snapped turn inside, keep blocking until you hear the ref’s whistle.

And always there was Coach Morgan with the same refrain. “Snap, catch, hold, kick.”

We came up with our own add on to that “Up and good.”

These were the words going through my mind as the Indianapolis Colts’ Matt Stover kicked the game-winning extra point to put the lid on Indy’s 35-34 comeback win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

The extra point seems like the easiest play in football. Trust me it can be an adventure and not always a good one.

Another play in football that may seem boring but is a necessity, punting.

Ask Patriots fans how they feel about punting the ball away vs. going for it on fourth down.

I won’t pretend to know what New England coach Bill Belichik was thinking going for it deep in his own territory. But the fact that he didn’t punt the ball to make the Colts go farther than 30 yards for the winning score will be one of the more questioned plays from this season.

Somewhere along the line the cliche about defense winning games must have gotten lost during the final moments of the game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

I had no horse in that race, neither is a team I root for.

But I can honestly say that the team that made the biggest mistakes lost. Add in that the most arrogant coach out-thought himself and everyone who’s not a Patriots fan should have an ear-to-ear grin right now.

Contact Quintin Harlan: 640-4835, quintin.harlan@heraldbulletin.com.

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