During the second quarter of last night’s Monday Night Football game between the Giants and the Cowboys, a black cat ran onto the field. The refs stopped the game for a few minutes as the animal, likely petrified in the middle of 76,107 fans, ran around the field before disappearing into a MetLife Stadium tunnel and, presumably, into the cool New Jersey night.
When the feline made his entrance, the Giants were leading 9-3, a strong start for a team that’s only won two games all season going against the heavily favored Cowboys.
Alas, it didn’t last. After the cat made his dramatic, nationally televised exit, the Giants committed three turnovers and scored just nine points while the Cowboys poured on 34 and won the game handily.
Was it the cat’s appearance that doomed the G-men? Probably not. They’re on the bad side of mediocre, with the 24th-best offense and 28th-best defense in the NFL. Unlike the 1969 Cubs, who led the league for most of the season until a cat running in front of the visitor’s dugout at Shea portended their collapse, the 2019 Giants probably just reverted to being the 2019 Giants after an uncharacteristically strong start.
The incident did provide a moment of levity for radio listeners as Kevin Harlan, the longtime play-by-play announcer, called the incident as he would a normal play, with entertaining results.
Kevin Harlan's Westwood One radio call of the cat on the field is, as you might expect, an all-time great call. How much of a pro is Harlan? He worked a sponsor read into it. pic.twitter.com/3x0MVNEHNY
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) November 5, 2019
Then there’s this delight shared by an Indianapolis woman. It shows her black cats seeing their doppelganger on TV and jumping up to get a better look.
#BlackCat #NFLcat pic.twitter.com/ZmcRItPY19
— Cindy Saucier (@Brat1st) November 5, 2019
The most superstitious of Giants fans may blame the cat for this loss and their season, but the truth is that if this cat provided the most memorable moment of the Giants’ season it’s because they haven’t played memorably enough.
