In a 0-0 scoreless game on December 12, 1982, the Patriots decided to attempt a field goal with 4:32 on the clock and with the help of a convict on work leave they were able to drill it and win the game 3-0.

Mark Henderson was a convict serving a 15-year sentence at the Norfolk State Penitentiary after being convicted of burglary. Let out of the pen on a work release program, he was assigned to operate a snowplow during Patriots’ home games in Foxboro including this game against the Miami Dolphins.

In a game of slips, slides, missed kicks and fumbles, both teams found it impossible to score in the 20 mile per hour winds and blizzard-like conditions.

Under the direction of coach, Ray Meyer and holder Matt Cavanaugh, the jailbird darted around the Patriot’s huddle and cleared the spot where Cavanaugh would be spotting the ball for kicker John Smith.

While Shula almost blew a gasket, protesting the move, the Pats kick was ruled good and the hometown team went on to win the game 3-0.

Henderson who was interviewed later responded, “What were they gonna do, throw me in jail?”

Years later, after his release from prison, Henderson was invited to a Patriots home game against the Dolphins where he reenacted his cheating snowplow maneuver.

This game would go down in history known as “The Snowplow Game”.

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