A query. I offer you two pills. Take the first pill, you have an NFL career of no note whatsoever, but you make some money and then vanish, never to be remembered again. Take the second pill, you have a forgettable backup career as a nobody, but you do have a legacy: one really hilarious fuckup. Do you take the second pill? Both pills are plain white, by the way, and are very small, I don’t want anyone choking.
Sage Rosenfels took the second pill.
Sage was drafted in the 4th by the Washington [REDACTED] in 2001 and then went and threw a few passes for the Dolphins until he ended up on the Texans in 2006. I’m going to be honest, I made this comic assuming the Texans drafted him, I had no idea he was that old. He was actually in college already when Elway went helicopter against the Packers in 1998. Well, the point is, few people outside the diehards had him on their radar when he came in. He sat on the bench behind new QB Matt Schaub, until one fateful week 5 in 2008. Schaub was out with an illness. Rosenfels got the start in the home opener against Indianapolis (the home opener was in week 5 due to a hurricane postponing the week 2 matchup). It is funny how a random afternoon game in October can suddenly have something happen in it that lives on in NFL lore.
I was watching the game with my college roommate in our apartment. We were both rooting against the Colts and were delighting in this guy neither of us had heard of leading the Texans to a glorious victory over Peyton Manning. That’s when poor Sage fell apart. 2 interceptions, and two fumbles. But it wasn’t just any fumble. It was peak fumble.
John Elway’s helicopter is NFL legend. The horseman has spent a career being bludgeoned to death on the biggest stage and now, with everything on the line, he was throwing his 37 year old ass through defenders to get a first down. It has become the iconic John Elway play. A symbol of his resilience and persistence to never stop striving for your dream. The amusing thing to me is that the play is barely remarkable without the context it occurs. Watch it, divorcing yourself of the context. He just does a little jump, gets hit, does a half spin, and lands on his butt. Fine, but nothing outstanding. Context makes everything.
I bring that up because you probably forgot how goddamn impressive the Rosencopter play actually is, especially in comparison. Elway did a small spin a couple feet off the ground. Sage Rosenfels reached low orbit. A perfect combination of a very tall man making a big leap and getting hit at the peak of his leap catapulted Rosenfels into the nosebleeds. I swear, at his highest, he must be at minimum 5+ feet off the ground. Since he gets absolutely rocked and the other tackler’s helmet strikes the ball, Sage fumbles it in midair and the Colts return it 68 yards for the score.
The Rosencopter is up there in the pantheon of great fumbles. Nothing will beat the Buttfumble, but we have to give Rosencopter the respect it deserves. Sage appears to have a good sense of humor about it now (apologies for a random facebook link, it was the best video I could find of him talking about it). He also mentions that he doesn’t remember the rest of the game and you can tell he clearly suffered a concussion on impact. Otherwise he probably holds on, but holding onto a ball is tough when your brain is mush. He also mentions in a different interview that the play affected him mentally for a time, and it took him a while to reach the point where he is now where he can be proud of himself for taking a chance, even if it backfired.
Rosenfels never did anything of note after that play. He played in Minnesota for a year. He backed up Eli for a season (which I straight up forgot until researching this). He was briefly employed by the Dolphins and Vikings after that but never saw action. He seems happy now, and is a commentator for his alma mater Iowa State. It’s not the way you want to go down in NFL lore, but it is a place in history. I’ll never forget Sage Rosenfels because of this play. I remember where I was, in my Rochester apartment living room. I remember the feel of the terrible carpet under my feet. I remember going “oh my god he dropped it”. I remember turning to my roommate and him saying “oh they are losing this game aren’t they”. This isn’t the kind of core sports memory a nobody backup NFL player tends to achieve. Thank you, Sage Rosenfels, for trying to do something stupid. It gives me joy to this day.
