Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, is seen to be a field with a significant home field advantage due to cold weather that annually rolls through the outdoor stadium. This is because when opposing teams come to visit during winter months, their players likely aren’t as acclimatized to the cold as New England.
Turns out this applies to coaches as well.
On December 4th, 2016, the Los Angeles Rams found themselves down 17-0 to the Patriots. After a Rams’ catch was initially called out of bounds, Rams coach Jeff Fisher decided he wanted to challenge the play. Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to find his challenge flag.
This was a funny fiasco to watch live on TV, as the announcers shared a chuckle at Fisher’s expense, but on Season 2 of All or Nothing we were treated to the audio of Fisher explaining to the referees that he can’t find his flag. Fisher’s comically large coat appears to have a ton of pockets, leading Fisher to resort to a verbal challenging of the play before eventually finding the elusive red flag.
(Warning: Video contains some NSFW language)
That just about summarizes how the Rams’ night (and season) was going, and at the end of the year Fisher was let go by the organization.
No word on whether his inability to challenge plays had anything to do with it.
(H/T Twitter/ZackCoxNESN)
