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Chris Jessee is a member of the football operations staff for the Texas Longhorns of The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the stepson of Mack Brown, the team's head coach. Jessee's primary job with the team is to help with travel logistics. He is best known for a single play that occurred during the 2007 Holiday Bowl as the 2007 Texas Longhorn football team was playing the Arizona State Sun Devils.
During the second quarter of the game, ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter led the Sun Devils to a first down at the Texas 14-yard line. They lost one yard on first down and an incomplete pass set up third and eleven. Carpenter attempted another pass but threw the ball hurriedly in an effort to avoid a sack by Texas linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy. The ball hit the ground and the officials initially threw a flag for intentional grounding; it would later be ruled a backwards pass which becomes a fumble once it hits the ground. The ball continued to bounce towards the Texas sideline with players from both teams in pursuit. The most bizarre event of the game occurred as the ball came close to the sideline.
Jessee stepped onto the field and bent down as if to pick up the bouncing ball. Jessee thought that the ball was an incomplete forward pass and he was making the signal for intentional grounding as he stepped forward. The ball came close to Jessee’s hands but the ball appeared to bounce over his outstretched hands as it continued to roll down the field without changing trajectories. The ball was declared dead at that point and the officials declared that Jessee had committed illegal interference; they declared an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty assessed against Texas. The ball went back to the Sun Devils and they were awarded half the distance to the goal, giving ASU fourth-and-3 at the 7-yard line. For his role in inadvertently penalizing his team, Jessee has been compared to Steve Bartman, the man who may have inadvertently hurt the World Series prospects of the Chicago Cubs by interfering with a ball still in play. Unlike Bartman, Jessee’s goof did not result in a loss for his team; the Longhorns were able to shrug off the setback. Commentators also joked that Jessee might star in Southwest Airlines advertising campaign called wanna get away? which includes people in difficult or uncomfortable positions longing to leave town.
Commentators agreed the play was extremely unusual. The Austin American-Statesman said that it was one of the most bizarre moments of an odd college-football season. Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune said, "I've been watching football since Jon Arnett and Ernie Zampese were playing for USC, and I've never seen anything like that. It was as if Jessee wanted it for a souvenir. Carpenter should have autographed it." The game’s replay official, Bob Patrick, explained afterwards that in such a bizarre circumstance, the officials have the right to award whatever penalty they feel is equitable.
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