Tony Verna, the inventor of the instant replay for sports television died at the age of 81 on Sunday.

According to CBS, Tony debuted his instant replay during an Army-Navy game in 1963. He said that he was looking for a way to fill in the gap of time between plays.

One of instant replay’s most important moments in NFL history was in 2001 during the AFC divisional playoff game known as the “Tuck Rule Game”. This game was played by the Patriots and the Raiders. In this, Tom Brady was sacked by Charles Woodson, causing what looked like a fumble. Greg Biekert proceeded to pick up the “fumble” (an interception would have meant that the Raiders would won.)

loading...

However, thanks to the instant replay, officials were able to determine that Brady’s arm was moving forward at the moment he was sacked, making the play an incomplete pass.

NFL Rule 3, Section 22, Article 2, Note 2. When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble.

This allowed the Patriots to maintain possession of the ball and ultimately win the game.

More From WSHK-WSAK 102.1 & 105.3 The Shark