15 Most Famous 'Face Palm' Moments in Sports

Mistakes happen in sports all the time—fumbles, errors, carelessness, you name it. However, some "oops" moments have become famous over the years, much to the chagrin of their authors.

By 'face palm' moment, what I mean is a true screw-up. This is not a strategic decision that had a regrettable outcome (Pete Carroll), nor is it showboating that negated a surefire score (DeSean Jackson). No, these are just pure, unadulterated blunders.

Bill Buckner tried to field that chopper up the first-base line—he just missed it. The Stanford band didn’t mean to lose the Big Game in 1982—they thought the game was over.

It pains me a little to bring up these embarrassing moments that folks involved would probably rather forget, but oh well. Let’s do it anyway.

Honorable Mention: Brazil’s Own Goal

This one is a bit too recent to hit “most famous” status, but it could get there one day. An own goal is probably one of the most humiliating things that can happen in sports.

In 2014, the World Cup host nation opened the tournament with one such goal. Early in his team's first match against Croatia, Brazilian defender Marcelo deflected a pass into his own net. It was the first World Cup own goal in Brazil’s history. Brazil went on to win the game, but still, not a great way to start.

Honorable Mention: Super Bowl Blackout

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

This one gets an honorable mention because it didn’t exactly happen on the battlefield, but it was definitely memorable.

In 2013, the lights went out at the Superdome in New Orleans—during Super Bowl XLVII. The outage caused a delay of 34 minutes before it was resolved.

Butt Fumble

Fumbles happen all the time in the NFL, and most aren’t particularly notable.

However, this fumble was different. On Thanksgiving Day 2012, the New York Jets lost big to the New England Patriots. The star of the game wasn’t Tom Brady, but Brandon Moore’s backside. During the second quarter, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez somehow fumbled a snap after running into Moore. The Pats recovered the fumble and returned it for a touchdown.

Unfortunately for Sanchez, he is now forever linked with the term, “butt fumble.”

Sven Kramer’s Lane Violation

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

Dutch speedskater Sven Kramer was the favorite to win gold in the 10,000-meter event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. And in fact, he did end up with the fastest time by four seconds.

Alas, Kramer committed a lane violation during the race and was disqualified. Lee Seung-Hoon of South Korea, therefore, won the gold and set a new Olympic record with his time.

Wym Essajas Oversleeps

Anonymous/Associated Press

We’ve all slept in at one point or another—but sleeping through the Olympics? That’s an oops moment most people never even get the chance to have.

Wym Essajas was scheduled to run the 800-meter event in the 1960 Olympics in Rome. He was the first athlete to ever compete for the South American country of Suriname. As the story goes, someone miscommunicated his start time, and Essajas slept through the race.  

Patrik Stefan Misses Empty Net

In January 2007, Patrik Stefan and his Dallas Stars led the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4, with less than a minute remaining. Stefan found himself with a shot at an empty net, and he missed—all alone, just him, the net and the puck. And Stefan flat-out missed.

Worse yet, the Oilers regained possession and somehow scored to send the game to overtime. Dallas ended up winning in a shootout, but the missed goal by Stefan will long outlive the result of the game.

Jose Canseco’s Head Homer

In 1993, the Texas Rangers lost a game to the Cleveland Indians in part because of a boneheaded play by Texas outfielder Jose Canseco. Canseco attempted to field a fly ball in the fourth inning, but instead the ball hit his head and hopped over the wall for a home run. The Rangers lost, 7-6.

Jim Schwartz’s Challenge Flag

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

It’s not every day an "oops" moment results in a league rule change, but such was the case for Jim Schwartz and the “Jim Schwartz rule.”

During the Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving Day game in 2012, then-head coach Schwartz mistakenly threw a challenge flag on a scoring play. His mistake was that scoring plays are automatically reviewed, and at the time, tossing a challenge flag on such a play negated any review at all.

The Lions lost that game in overtime, and the NFL changed the rule after the season.

Chris Brass' Own Goal

Soccer has had many famous own goals in its history, but let’s talk about one that was particularly memorable.

In 2006, Chris Brass of Bury F.C. attempted to clear the ball away from his own net in a match against Darlington. Instead, the ball somehow hit him in the face before taking an extremely unfortunate bounce into the net. 

Leon Lett’s Live Ball

Leon Lett was, remarkably, part of two major "oops" moments in sports history. One was a play during Super Bowl XXVII in which he celebrated too early on a fumble return. But since we’re not counting showboating as oops moments, let’s talk about the other one.

On a wintry Thanksgiving Day 1993, Lett’s Cowboys faced the Miami Dolphins at home. Trailing, 14-13, with 15 seconds remaining, Miami attempted a 41-yard field goal. It was blocked, and for a moment it appeared the Cowboys would prevail.

It was not to be. After the block, Lett dove for the ball, attempting to recover it but instead making it a live ball. The Dolphins eventually recovered at the 3-yard line and kicked the game-winning field goal from closer range.  

'Wrong Way' Riegels

The California Golden Bears faced the Georgia State Yellow Jackets in the 1929 Rose Bowl.

Tied, 0-0, in the second quarter, Cal’s Roy Riegels recovered a Georgia Tech fumble and bolted toward the end zone—the wrong end zone. A teammate caught up to him at the 1-yard line before Riegels could score for the other team, but Cal was eventually forced to punt from deep in its own territory. The punt was blocked, resulting in a safety. The Bears lost, 8-7.

Romo’s Bobble

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has taken a lot of heat over the years, mainly for his lack of playoff success. In 2007, Romo committed a particularly costly error, and he’s never really lived it down.

Trailing the Seattle Seahawks, 21-20, with 1:19 to go in the NFC Wild Card Game, the Cowboys attempted a 19-yard field goal. Inexplicably, Romo bobbled the snap, and the Cowboys ended up losing the game.

Wrong Team, Fred Brown

In 1982, Dean Smith and Michael Jordan’s North Carolina Tar Heels won college basketball’s national championship, but it might not have happened without Fred Brown.

Jordan stroked a jumper with 15 seconds left to put his team up, 63-62, over the Georgetown Hoyas. On the ensuing possession, Georgetown’s Fred Brown dribbled the ball to the top of the key and then inexplicably, unbelievably passed the ball right to UNC’s James Worthy.

Worthy broke toward the other end and was fouled with two seconds left. He missed both free throws, but UNC held on to win the game.

Wrong Way, Jim Marshall

In 1964, the Minnesota Vikings won a game against the San Francisco 49ers, but it wasn’t the game that became famous—it was one play.

San Francisco running back Billy Kilmer fumbled in the fourth quarter, and Jim Marshall of the Vikings scooped it up. He ran it all the way back for a t—er, a safety. Turns out, Marshall had inadvertently run the ball into the wrong end zone, a blunder that resulted in two points for the 49ers.

The Vikings won the game, but the play will live on. In 1994, NFL Films ranked the play No. 1 on its "NFL's 100 Greatest Follies" video.

‘The Play’

This "oops" moment comes to you courtesy of the Stanford marching band.

The University of Cal at Berkeley annually faces off against Stanford in what Bay Area folks refer to as the “Big Game.” In 1982, the Big Game provided the backdrop for what would become known as “The Play.”

Stanford kicked a late field goal and led, 20-19, with four seconds remaining. They squibbed the ensuing kickoff, and that’s where things started to go wrong.

Cal recovered the kick and proceeded to complete five laterals to keep the return alive. Meanwhile, the Stanford band didn’t get the memo about the fat lady and began to spill out onto the field as the play went on. Cal tight end Kevin Moen scored the game-winning touchdown for the Bears, running right through the band to do it.

Chris Webber Timeout

In 1993, the University of Michigan and its Fab Five faced the North Carolina Tar Heels in college basketball's national championship game.

Trailing, 73-71, with 11 seconds remaining, Michigan sophomore Chris Webber had the ball. He attempted to call a timeout, which was a real problem since Michigan didn’t have any timeouts left. The mistake resulted in a technical foul. UNC made both the free throws, and Michigan ended up losing the title game for the second year in a row.

Buckner’s Error

The Boston Red Sox finally broke its 86-year curse in 2004, but it might have happened years earlier if not for one Bill Buckner.

In 1986, the Red Sox led the New York Mets in the World Series, three games to two. They also led Game 6 in New York, 5-3, in the 10th inning. The home team was up—two outs, two strikes, nobody on. Three straight singles and a wild pitch later, the Mets had tied the game, 5-5.

With a man on second, Mookie Wilson hit a chopper down the first-base line. Buckner somehow let the ball sneak through his legs, and the run scored—game over. The Red Sox went on to lose Game 7 and the series.