If the Dallas Cowboys wanted the controversy over their "ginormous HDTV" video scoreboard to go away, they invited the wrong Thanksgiving guest.
Oakland Raiders punter Shane Lechler will be booming kicks in a Thanksgiving Day game at Cowboys Stadium, where the Cowboys' 160-foot video board hangs only 90 feet above the field. Lechler kicks higher and further than any punter in pro football, with an all-time best ever 51.5 yard average this season.
Countless millions of Americans who like watching football better than talking to their families will surely be anticipating each Raiders punt, as no punts have hit the Cowboys' video board this season. Titans' backup punter A.J. Trapasso kicked a punt into that video board in an exhibition game this August.
But the Cowboys have refused to move that sucker, citing some sort of rule about things being larger than normal in their home state. Dallas coach Wade Philips told the San Francisco Chronicle, "Oh, I don't think he's gonna hit it if he kicks it. I mean, nobody's even come close except that guy that kicked it straight up in preseason to try to hit it."
Lechler himself seems like he'd rather not. "No, I'm not going to go for it on purpose," Lechler told the Chronicle. "That is being really selfish that way. If I hit it, I hit it. It's kind of a tough spot to put our guys in, though."
The Raiders would have to run the play over again, so there's a slight risk of fatigue or injury. But it would guarantee Lechler the most frequently-replayed sports highlight reel of the weekend.
They might even show it again on the 160-foot video board.
Sports
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who is just worried that video board is going to fall on somebody.
