Monday, December 31, 2001
Bean gets big scoop on fumble
Pitch to Simmons yields pivotal TD
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
In any close football game, there's a key play. Sometimes it's the winning play, sometimes it's the momentum-shifter. Robert Bean, take a bow.
You turned the tide.
In the Bengals' locker room, the TV cameras were gathered around Neil Rackers (game-winning field goal in overtime) and Danny Farmer (touchdown catch at the end of regulation to tie it) and Jon Kitna (35-for-68, 411 yards).
But it was Brian Simmons' 66-yard fumble return for a TD on a Steelers' attempted field goal — with Pittsburgh leading 14-0 and firmly in control late in the first half — that gave the Bengals a ray of hope on a day that had started miserably.
Simmons had it right when he was asked about his touchdown.
“The big part of that play was (Robert) Bean scooping it (the fumble) up on the run and, as he was getting tackled, pitching it to me,” Simmons said.
Bean's play was as heady as it gets. He had the speed to get to the ball, the hands to grab it and the eyes to see Simmons approaching.
“Robert! Robert!” Simmons was yelling, but Bean didn't hear him in all the commotion. He saw him in his peripheral vision.
And, as Bean was going to the turf, he made the split-second decision to lateral the ball and put some air underneath it so Simmons could catch it in stride.
There's a reason why Bean was in the game there. He's a playmaker. In his two years of college (he was a junior-college transfer), he blocked five punts and two field goals.
“Bean comes in for me on the field goal block team,” said Bengals cornerback Artrell Hawkins. “It's a good thing he did come in, because I don't think I would have been smart enough to pitch back to Brian.”
Lest you think this was mere luck on Bean's part, consider:
When he was at Mississippi State and playing against archrival Ole Miss, he deflected a pass with 17 seconds left and, before the ball hit the ground, kick-caromed the ball into a teammate's hands for a long interception return that set up a winning field goal.
Bean volunteered that anecdote Sunday when asked if his fumble recovery and pitch to Simmons to help upset the 12-3 Steelers was at the top of his personal highlight reel.
“One of my top two,” he said.
What Sunday's play re sembled was a backward flip of a pass on a basketball fastbreak when a defender confronts the dribbler. A feed like that draws the oohs and aahs of fans, and so did this one.
What was Bean's view of Simmons' score?
“I was on the ground. But I heard the crowd, and it sounded good,” Bean said. “I saw his escorts, and that looked good. I got up cheering, and saw him go into the end zone. That looked even better.”
There is one thing Simmons would have done differently.
“I'm kind of mad I threw the ball into the stands,” he said. “I'd have liked to have that one.”
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Bean gets big scoop on fumble