Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open and the Olympics, plus NCAA Final Four connections, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling San Bernardino County city that sits somewhere halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10 has its impressive share of sports connections. – Obrey Brown
They still call it the Miracle at the Meadowlands. It was a late fumble. A recovery. A last-ditch touchdown. New York’s football Giants were about to beat bitter NFC East rival Philadelphia.
Redlands’ Brian De Roo, serving in his rookie season as a wide receiver for the Giants, had a front row seat for the “miracle.” It’s an infamous and often replayed conclusion to an NFC Eastern Division game between the Giants and the visiting Philadelphia Eagles.
On November 19, 1978, Giants’ QB Joe Pisarcik mishandled a snap in the waning seconds of a game seemingly won by New York.
Onetime All-Pro fullback Larry Csonka, a future NFL Hall of Famer, couldn’t quite get to Pisarcik’s handoff.
Fumble!
Eagles’ defensive back Herman Edwards recovered. Not only did Edwards recover the loose ball, but he returned the loose ball 26 yards for a touchdown. Philadelphia pulled off an unexpected 19-17 victory. It should’ve been a 17-12 Giants’ triumph.
De Roo, who had been drafted by the Giants in the fifth round of the 1978 NFL draft out of the University of Redlands earlier that spring, had been placed on injured reserve during his rookie season.
“I was standing on the sidelines for that play,” said De Roo, “ducking and dodging pieces of headsets that were splintering from being smashed on the ground by various assistant coaches.”
That was the reaction to one of pro football’s biggest late-game blow-ups. Pisarcik, who is probably more known for that play than any other during his career, had been taken by the Giants from the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.
Edwards, who would eventually become a head coach at both the pro and collegiate level, changed the Eagles’ fate. It turned out to be a huge boost to an eventual Super Bowl berth two years later. Philly, who went into the game at 6-5, used that win over the Giants to reach that season’s NFL playoffs.
“Helmets were also rebounding off the turf,” said De Roo. “John Mendenhall’s (a Giants’ assistant) headset went the highest!”
It was a simple play. Pisarcik was expected to take one more snap. Kneel with the football. Running out the clock. Preserving a 17-12 Giants’ upset. Instead, he botched the handoff to Csonka, who wasn’t expecting the ball.
The Giants-Eagles rivalry dates back to 1933.
As for the Giants in 1978, it was another step in the team’s growing era of mediocrity – 6-10, fifth place in the NFC East that season.
The Eagles, meanwhile, finished 9-7 and reached the playoffs as a wild-card. They lost to Dallas in the playoffs.
Giants’ head coach John McVay, who eventually moved on to an executive position with the Bill Walsh-coached San Francisco 49ers, lost his job in New York.
De Roo, meanwhile, was traded to the Baltimore Colts after the season.
“I always wanted to thank John,” said De Roo, “for allowing me to go on the road trips with the team. In those days, most of the guys on IR just stayed home during road trips. I always wanted to find John and thank him for that.”
FOOTNOTE: De Roo’s spot in the NFL, meanwhile, has earned him a place in the NAIA Hall of Fame — both for his play on the football field but also for his track & field achievements which included winning the NAIA decathlon championship. During his University of Redlands days, De Roo was part of a Bulldogs’ athletic program that was part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), which was a direct opponent of the more well-known NCAA.
On Jan. 9, 2022, De Roo will be inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in San Antonio, Texas. He was nominated for the honor by none other than recently-retired Bulldog coach Mike Maynard, who had nothing to do with Redlands or the NAIA during De Roo’s collegiate career.
“He nominated me,” said De Roo, who caught 156 passes during his Bulldog days.
De Roo remains the lone Bulldog ever to be drafted by an NFL team. Note that he’s not the only Bulldog player to play in the NFL — there have been others — but he’s the only draftee.
