Dez Bryant's magic moment slipped away in an instant, right through his arms, out his fingertips and onto the turf of Cowboys Stadium.
The white portion of the turf, not the blue.
That's what happened when the Dallas Cowboys' receiver made a miraculous end zone catch that, in the moment, appeared to give his team a much-needed win over their NFC East rival New York Giants.
As Cowboys fans rejoiced and Giants fans bemoaned their first loss ever to Dallas in the Boys' sparkling new-ish stadium, those of us watching on TV saw, through instant reply, disputable evidence of the on-field call.
Just before Bryant landed, his fingertips touched the out-of-bounds line at the back of the blue end zone.
Giants fans, I'm sure, at viewing the Fox slow-motion instant replay, screamed "that's not a bleepin' touchdown" while at the same time worrying officials in charge of reviewing the matter would not see what was plain to their Big Blue eyes.
In that same frame of time, the hope of Cowboys fans ended in a sudden, fiery crash as if Bryant's landing fingers pushed the detonator switch.
I'm neither a Cowboys fan nor a Giants supporter, but I have two good friends who are die-hard fans, nearly from birth I'm guessing, of each of those teams. I asked them what went through their minds when they saw Dez leap and catch the ball and then again moments later when the replay clearly showed the receiver's fingertips land out of bounds before the rest of his body plunged to the end zone.
First up, let's hear from the winning side. (We'll save the drama for the end.)
Here's Giants fan, Keith, via an elated email from Connecticut:
"Years off my life, dude. My stomach lining was shot after that seesaw roller coaster 'hurricane' of a divisional hated rivalry game. I went from 'wow, I can't believe this is gonna be another surprise road blowout, ala Niners' to 'wow, I can't believe we're not killing them 35-0' to 'oh lord, we're actually gonna blow this whole thing to Tony 'check out my Mark Sanchez Halloween costume' Romo and the Cowboys' to an ultimate 'phhheeewww, sure glad the clock finally says :00 and we still have the lead' ..... my father-in-law and buddy were crushed by that loss. So as a riches of spoils Giants fan, still can't help but feel a little guilty, but also even more than that, extremely selfishly happy."
No now, here's Chad from Tennessee (who actually admits to doing housework) in an email, presenting the Cowboys' side:
"So,...I don't even watch the first 15 min of the game because I KNOW we’re going to be beat by probably 20 or 23 points.
I finish up with my housework...and I actually sit down to watch them go down by 23. I'm not upset...I expected this to happen.
I begin to hope that Tony Romo would just get hurt at one point I remember.
So I go up to my parent's house for my great aunt's birthday party.....I sit and watch the TV with the mute on,....I eat and walk around and keep watching this come back... we get the ball back at the end...I'm thinking...NO WAY we go that far and score… then I start to think about the last time I've seen this done by any team...and Tom Brady comes to mind...and he makes it look so easy, the guy is always wide open and they end up scoring and winning.
So the ball's in the air...and I'm thinking...ok great...he better get it in the end zone...and I see Dez...thinking...he's doubled covered...then I see the one Giant jump too early...and I think ....looks like the ball is going in between them....and for a second I think Dez won't catch it...then I see he did catch it !!!!!
I jump up..as my thumb is turning the volume up to 80 and I scream out. Luckily, others in the room were watching as well so I didn't scare everyone. Then I look at his butt and see it lands in the blue...then I see another angle and see his hand...and I'm like...it’s out...his hand touched first....no good.....
The play goes to replay and I just sit there and think...ok,..no way we do that again...it's over...but, I'll sit here... Then my 16-year-old niece tells me it's all over Twitter that Nick Saban is going to coach the Cowboys next year. And as crazy as that is...the thought crosses my mind if that would do anything...and I know it won't because Jerry is still in charge and he'll tell Saban he's crazy and a fight will break out and Saban goes back to college and we don't have a coach again....
Replay is over...and what do you know......no TD. I turn the channel to Sunday Night Football, gather children and go home to never discuss it again until right now."
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