A Look Back at the 30th Anniversary of “The Snow Plow” Game

December 12, 1982 was supposed to be just another divisional game between Don Shula’s 4-1 Miami Dolphins as they traveled to Shaefer Stadium to take on the 2-3 New England Patriots led by Head Coach Ron Meyer during the strike-shortened NFL Season.

It turned out to be anything but and went down in NFL folklore in a game that would be known as “The Snow Plow” Game.

The night before heavy rains soaked the Astroturf; the temperature would then dropped to 26 degrees and shortly after the game started a heavy snowstorm moved in. The officials established an emergency ground rule where the referee could call a timeout to allow the grounds crew to use a snowplow to clear the markers on the field. However, the snow came down too hard and too often for the grounds crew to keep up.

Both teams were locked into a scoreless tie late into the fourth quarter. With 4:45 remaining, Patriots Coach Ron Meyer ordered snowplow operator Mark Henderson to clear a spot specifically for kicker John Smith. As Mark Henderson drove his John Deere 314 Tractor Model onto the field with the sweeper attached no one could tell anything was up, assuming the plow would go straight across the field. Henderson instead moved the plow in a direct path for the goal post, giving a clean spot for Matt Cavanaugh to hold the kick.

Dolphins Coach Don Shula went ballistic as he tried to protest what he would later call the “most unfair act” ever perpetrated in NFL History and said he should have blocked the path of the plow himself.

“I think it’s the most unfair thing that I’ve ever been associated in coaching. It’s the most unsportsmanlike act that I’ve ever around.” Said Shula

But as he protested to no avail Cavanaugh held the ball and left-footed John Smith kicked a 33-yard field that would win the game 3-0.

“I was bewildered.” said Coach Shula “I really was bewildered about what was happening out there on the field in front of my eyes. The magnitude of it never really set in until after he had lined up to kick the field goal.”

The game however, did not end on that play. Despite the protests and snowy conditions, the Dolphins methodically drove down the field on the legs of running backs Andra Franklin, Tony Nathan and the arm of quarterback David Woodley. With about a minute left in the game and well within field goal range, the Dolphins were facing fourth down.

Mark Henderson drove his John Deer Tractor down to that side of the field as well and was waiting for the referee to motion him back on the field to go clear a path for Dolphins kicker Uwe Von Schamann to tie the game. Shula however, decided to go for the first down instead. The Patriots defense stopped the Dolphins, took over on downs.

What would make the act even more controversial was that Mark Henderson wasn’t just any old grounds crew member, but was a convicted burglar on a work release program from MCI-Norfolk. Henderson was released from prison a few years later and found work in construction. When interviewed years later about the controversy surrounding the game, Henderson jokingly quipped “What are they gonna do, throw me in jail?”

“It’s the first time since I’ve been in professional football we’ve ever taken such serious exception to something which happened on the field.” said Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie in an interview for NFL Films “Fantastic Finishes” at the time. “That kind of thing should not occur as a result of somebody putting a snow plow run by a convict with a day off from prison, out on to the field to give special advantage to the home team”.

Mark Henderson received a game ball from Patriots Coach Ron Meyer.

“I’m sure if you were the other coach on the other sideline you would say it would be a black mark.” said Patriots Coach Ron Meyer “But I know one thing I can live with myself on it and it wasn’t an attempt to deceive or it wasn’t an attempt to cheat anybody.”

Shula would continue his protest to NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and while Rozelle would agree with Shula that the act was indeed unfair, that without a rule explicitly barring such use of a snow plow, there was nothing he could do about the outcome of the game.

The following year, the NFL banned the use of snowplows on the field during the game.

The John Deere Tractor currently resides in an interactive exhibit at the Hall of Patriot Place in the Patriots current Gillette Stadium.