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 a New England/Miami Dolphins game in Foxboro on December 12, 1982.
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.
With 4:32 left and the game still scoreless, the Pats decided to attempt a field goal. Henderson, as he had all game, was driving the plow across the field to clear a spot for the center to place the ball before the snap.
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. Here’s the video and all you millennials will get a peek at what a crappy TV with rabbit ears looked like:
Shula almost blew a gasket, protesting the move after the Pats kick was good and they 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.