The Worst Referee Calls In NFL History

Thanksgiving traditionally has the Detroit Lions playing every year. And 98% of the time, the Lions have sucked and their games have been snooze fests, which is great for a little after turkey nap. The 1998 Lions/Steelers game, however, was quite memorable, but not for anything the Lions did. Nope, fans remember this game for

Thanksgiving traditionally has the Detroit Lions playing every year. And 98% of the time, the Lions have sucked and their games have been snooze fests, which is great for a little after turkey nap. The 1998 Lions/Steelers game, however, was quite memorable, but not for anything the Lions did. Nope, fans remember this game for the coin flip.

Steelers captain Jerome Bettis had the honor of calling the coin in the air. Bettis called "tails," but referee Phil Luckett heard "heads." The coin landed tails, the Lions won the toss, received the ball, marched down the field, kicked a field goal, and won the game. Pittsburgh fans were irate, and Phil Luckett became the poster boy for bad refs — if you can't get the coin flip right, what can you do?

Here's the thing, though: Luckett actually corrected himself on the call. he said "he-tails," almost like he started to say heads, but quickly corrected himself. Regardless, he clearly can be heard saying "tails" on the broadcast. Incidentally, after that win, the Lions didn't win again and the Steelers didn't either — it was the Luckett Curse!

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