Five Laterals and a Trombone: Cal, Stanford, and the Wildest Finish in College Football History - Paperback
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The Definitive Chronicle of College Football's Most Unforgettable Moment
In November 1982, the 85th Big Game between Cal and Stanford produced the most improbable finish in college football history. Five laterals on the final kickoff culminated in a touchdown run through Stanford's marching band—already celebrating on the field. Those 21 seconds became known simply as The Play.
Five Laterals and a Trombone reconstructs this legendary moment through hundreds of interviews with players, coaches, referees, and stadium personnel from both sides of the rivalry. Journalist Tyler Bridges, a Stanford graduate and twice Pulitzer Prize-winning team member, delivers a thrilling account that transports readers onto the field and inside the huddle.
Key Figures and Memorable Characters
The book features Stanford star quarterback John Elway, Cal linebacker Ron Rivera, final lateral receiver Kevin Moen, and Cardinal trombone player Gary Tyrrell—whose instrument was immortalized in the chaos. Through their perspectives and those of dozens of others, Bridges captures the mood swings, hijinks, and pivotal moments that defined this historic rivalry game.
A Pre-Digital Era Sports Phenomenon
The Play was not televised live. No instant replay existed. In 1982, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs were just developing the first personal computers 10 miles from Stanford's campus. News of the bizarre sequence took hours to spread across the country, yet the story captivated football fans for decades. This 40th anniversary edition preserves the definitive history of college football's ultimate oddity.
Tyler Bridges, twice a member of Pulitzer Prize-winning teams, is a journalist based in New Orleans who reports on Louisiana politics for The Advocate and has also written for the Washington Post, Politico Magazine, and other publications. He is the author of five books, was a 2011-12 Nieman Fellow at Harvard, was awarded Columbia University's Maria Moors Cabot Award in 2010 for his 10 years of foreign reporting in South America, and was a Shorenstein Center Fellow at Harvard in the fall of 2017. He is a graduate of Stanford University.
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