The Los Angeles Rams lost to the Chicago Bears, 17-16, on Dec. 8, 1968. Quarterback Roman Gabriel and the rest of the Rams offense got possession with 22 seconds remaining but were unable to move the ball and, with 5 seconds left, turned the ball back over to the Bears on downs—three downs. Neither Los Angeles coach George Allen, who said he was focused on the clock and when to send in his field-goal unit, nor Gabriel, still dazed after being knocked briefly unconscious in the second quarter, noticed when the sideline down marker was mistakenly advanced to “2” after a Rams first-down penalty, and none of the six officials caught the error. The loss eliminated 10-2-1 Los Angeles from playoff contention, and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended all six officials from working games for the remainder of the season.
“… (E)ach member of the officiating team is required to count the plays,” wrote Bob Oates in a Dec. 21, 1968, Sporting News article. “This is ‘too important’ to entrust to any one official. Each of the six uses the same method—a rubber band wich is moved progressively on one hand from the index finger (first down) to the middle finger (second) then the ring finger (third) and finally the little finger (fourth down). … The rubber band system had been infallible—until the day of the Bear game in Los Angeles.”[1]
[1] Oates, Bob “NFL west” The Sporting News (Dec. 21, 1968; 166:23) 8.
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