It was a play that changed the course of the entire NFL.

A play that was responsible for creating the most dominant dynasty in modern football history.

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Woodson had all but sent the Raiders to the AFC championship[/caption]

Insert Oakland Raider Charles Woodson sacking New England Patriot Tom Brady and forcing a fumble that was recovered by Oakland in the 2001 divisional round matchup.

The Raiders were holding on to a narrow 13-10 lead with under two minutes to go when Woodson stripped Brady and teammate Greg Biekert recovered it.

The Raiders were all but in the AFC championship.

That’s before head referee Walt Coleman changed the course of NFL history with his call.

After replay review, Coleman enacted the ‘Tuck Rule.’

Per the NFL rulebook, the Tuck Rule stated, “When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body.

“Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble.”

It was determined that Brady was trying to tuck the ball back into his body, thus overturning the call and making it an incompletion.

“It’ was B.S,” Woodson said afterwards.

“I thought it was a B.S. call. It never should have been overturned.

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“Unbelievable that [referee Walt] Coleman could sit there and look at it several times and still get the call wrong.”

It was as controversial a call as there has been in NFL history.

The legendary Patriot quarterback would retain possession and drive the length of the field for Adam Vinatieri to kick a 45-yard field goal in the snow, tying the game at 13 and sending it into overtime.

From there, Vinatieri would kick a 23-yard field goal to win the game for Brady and the Patriots.

They would go on to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship before completing one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets of all time by defeating ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’ and the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

It would be their first of six rings in 18 years.

Brady even admitted years later that he fumbled the ball.

In an interview with fellow iconic signal caller, Peyton Manning, Brady said: “Oh, yeah. I thought (the) game’s over. For the record, I was pulling (the ball) down.”

Nevertheless, it signaled the start of Bill Belichick and Brady’s dynasty in New England.

All thanks to a rule that doesn’t even exist anymore.

The Tuck Rule was abolished in 2013.

It was a bad rule to begin with that should have never existed in the first place.

Every Oakland player and fan will tell you that.

But if you ask the people of Foxborough, Massachusetts, they may just give you a different answer.

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