Written by Vince Hesprich (@vincehesprich), Johnny Raider (@JohnnnyRaider29), Joey Bonadonna (@JoeyBonadonna) and Joe Angelo

The allure of sports comes largely from the spectacle of seeing the most athletic people on the planet use every drop of talent to their name in service of defeating their similarly-committed foes. However, that same allure also makes it all-the-sweeter when these heroic athletes decent to the level of us mere mortals, or even far below. Combine the occasional malpractice with football, a sport known for its strategic nature, and you get some of the most hilarious pieces of comedy every created. 

Our 10-person panel of WSUM Sports Members put our heads together to rank which follies are the greatest both in terms of individual comedy and their overall impact on the game they appeared in. With the parameters laid out, let's dive in!

10. Tyrique Stevenson celebrates the win… seconds before securing the loss

I am sure you have seen it by now. The Commanders are down 12-18, with six seconds left Jayden Daniels drops back, moves around and waits for the pile to form, heaves the ball down field, it's tipped and caught in the endzone by Noah Brown.  The one man everyone is talking about is Tyrique Stevenson he tipped the ball but possibly only because he was taunting the crowd as the play started.  What is probably the worst part is if he had continued to taunt the crowd during the entire play, the ball might not have been tipped and the Bears might have won.  Instead, the play goes down in infamy and the Bears fell to 4-3, and eventually 4-5.

9. Brandon Bostick botches the onside kick in the 2014 NFC Championship

The Packers were up 19-14 in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship and were just over two minutes away from heading to Super Bowl XLIX. Enter Brandon Bostick. As Stephen Hauschka sent the onside kick in the air, Bostick, a third-string tight end, decided to abandon his blocking assignment to try to recover it, leaping in front of All-Pro receiver Jordy Nelson in the process. The ball bounced off his chest and Seattle was able to bounce on top of it. The Seahawks proceeded to march down the field to take a 22-19 lead and erased what was once a 16-point lead for the Packers. Mason Crosby sent the game to overtime with a 48-yard field goal as regulation expired, but I mean, you already knew the damage was done. Seattle won the game in overtime, setting up one of our next moments on this list. Luckily for my sanity, this is somehow not even the worst Packers/Seahawks moment that happened in the playoffs.

8. Blair Walsh (and Jeff Locke) go down in Vikings lore

January 10, 2016 was set to be a legendary day in Vikings history. In an playoff game that saw the temperature dip to -6 degrees, the home-underdog Vikings found themselves up 9-0 going into the fourth quarter. However, Russell WIlson's offense suddenly sprung to life and mustered 10 points in the fourth, giving the Vikings one final chance with 107 second left. That chance would not go to vain as the Vikings would quickly march down the field and set up a 27-yard field goal with 26 seconds left. The rest is history. Yes, Blair Walsh deserves some blame for missing a kick that was six yards shorter than a PAT. However, equal blame should also be assigned to holder Jeff Locke who had the laces facing in. Regardless of why the miss happened, it still goes down an an all-time heartbreaker.

7. Malcolm Butler cements the worst play call of all time

As the last three plays have proven, our panel added bonus points to plays that cost teams a playoff game. That means that a hypothetical game-losing blunder in the Super Bowl would have to rank number one, right? Well, the jury was split on Pete Carroll's inexplicable decision to not run the ball from the one-yard line and instead watch Russell Wilson throw a game-losing season-ending interception. While many argue the play call was justified given Carroll's recent explanation that he was looking to prioritize not running out of time, the majority still believe that Pete outthought himself and that simply running the ball when you have one of the greatest goal line running backs in NFL history was the way to go. 

6. “We want the ball and we're gonna score!”

If only social media was around for this one. One of the most fun playoff games of the 2000s saw former Packers Coach Mike Holmgren enter Lambeau and lead his Seattle Seahawks into overtime against the team he won a superbowl for. Leading Holmgren's offense was another former Packer: Matt Hasselbeck who spent his first three years in the league as Brett Favre's backup. A fired-up Hasselbeck was eager to take down his former squad and boldly declared upon winning the overtime coin toss that “we want the ball and we're gonna score.” 

The emotional decision was also a calculated risk. If Hasselbeck were to immediately drive down the field and win the game, the bold declaration would go down as one of the greatest moments in playoff history. However, if Hasselbeck were to instead throw a season-ending pick-six, suddenly the same bold declaration would become a ketchup stain on the legacy of a brilliantly-underrated player. I think we all know which route Hasselbeck went. 

5. Dan Orlovsky makes his first start a memorable one in the worst way possible

In theory, one more regular-season win would not change the overall legacy of a team. After all, a game between a 17-0 playoff team and a 16-1 playoff team could easily be considered a toss-up. This logic breaks down on the other end of the spectrum. There have been 11 NFL teams that have gone 1-15 and have dissipated into the NFL history books, yet the 0-16 Lions are among the most notorious teams in the history of the sport. This play is a big reason why.

Dan Orlovsky had the misfortune of making his first start as the quarterback of this historically-terrible team against a terrifying Vikings defense led by prime Jared Allen. Its one thing to graze the end line while facing pressure from the one. Its another things entirely to spend multiple seconds running a yard behind the endzone. 

4. “He's running the wrong way!”

You know a play is bad when its most-watched version of YouTube comes with a laughing track in the background. Vikings Ring of Honor member Jim Marshall was known for his outstanding football awareness and athleticism, which was on full display when the 2x Pro-Bowler scooped up a loose fumble and bolted 70 yards into the endzone. The only issue was the the direction Marshall was running was opposite that of his desired outcome. Suddenly, Marshall's “touchdown” celebration of throwing the ball out the endzone became a safety that netted San Francisco two points. The Vikings would go on to win the game, but Marshall's momentary lapse of awareness would live on well after the final whistle sounded.

3. The Colts outsmart everyone but the opposition 

This one wasn't technically a designed play because the ball was never supposed to be snapped. According to Pat McAfee, this play was designed to catch the Patriots with 12 players on the field. They moved 9 players from the punt formation close to the sideline to simulate the punt team running off for the offense to run out and pretend to go for it. This was supposed to get the patriots to switch out their personnel and hopefully catch them in a panic. Snap the ball only if the patriots take the bait. They of course did not, partly because they were coached by one of the greatest of all time, Bill Belichick. The colts were supposed to take a delay of game to concede the chess match, but a colts special teams player decided to hard count with the long snapper, leading to the snapper snapping the ball unexpectedly. A total disaster, and it goes down as one of the weirdest-looking plays in NFL history. 

2. Jakobi Myers throws the game away

I'm not sure there has ever been a play quite like this one. “Lunatic Lateral,” “Hail Moron,” “Flick Six,” “Sin City Miracle,” or whatever you want to call it. Not only was this play outlandish by itself, but situationally it made no sense. The Patriots had come back down 17-3 against the Raiders to tie the game at 24. You'd expect a desperation lateral when your team is down on the scoreboard. Not when the score is knotted up with zeros on the clock.

The Patriots could have easily sent the Raiders to overtime, and judging by the playcall, it sure looked like they were ok with letting the clock run out. They ran a draw up the gut, and by the split decision of Rhamondre Stevenson, he decided to lateral to Jakobi Meyers. One bad decision led to the mother of all mistakes in Jakobi launching up a prayer. Chandler Jones scoops up that prayer, proceeds to truck Mac Jones, and scores a miracle touchdown. This ultimately knocked the Patriots out of the playoff discussion and sealed the fate for the direction of the franchise going forward. 

1. The Butt Fumble

When compiling our list, our panel emphasized the plays that came in big moments, whether it be game-losing or season-ending. For a play that came in a meaningless regular season game to claim the number one spot would require said play to involve a level of comedy that would not just match, but greatly exceed what came before it. To say the Butt Fumble accomplished that benchmark is an understatement.

The comedy within this play is not akin to a clever and relatable George Carlin set that perfectly blends intellectual humor with shock comedy. The Butt Fumble is the equivalent of tuning into America's Funniest Videos and watching a dog with a lit firework in its mouth drive a four-wheeler off a trampoline and into a pool. The humor is not necessarily advanced: its just hilarious. 

Mark Sanchez was a brilliant college quarterback who carved out an impressive 10 year career in the NFL. He took the Jets(!) to the AFC Championship twice and is one of just three quarterbacks to beat Tom Brady in the playoffs at Gillette Stadium. And yet, if you ask someone what Mark Sanchez is best known for, they will rightfully tell you that Mark Sanchez's defining play as a quarterback was the time on Thanksgiving he gifted the Patriots a touchdown by running directly into the posterior of his own player and fumbling the football. He may be number one on our list of the worst plays in NFL history, but Mark Sanchez is also number one in the hearts of WSUM Sports. Live long and prosper, sweet prince.