Chicago Bears punter Trenton Gill is also the team’s holder on kicks.
He wound up costing his team 15 yards and a chance at a field goal Sunday in the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers due to an obscure rule.
Here goes: Soldier Field had been inundated by rain, leaving the field soaked.
So, what’s a holder to do when his team is about to attempt a field goal?
Bring a towel onto the field to dry the spot for his kicker, Cairo Santos.
The problem is the rulebook somehow addresses the possibility of such situations and it calls for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Players are prohibited from discarding on the playing field any loose towels or other materials used for wiping hands and the football.
Here's the Bears holder trying to dry the field with a towel LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO https://t.co/5iocwmlr03 pic.twitter.com/y5Bi5hwo52
— 𝗙𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪 @𝗙𝗧𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱𝟳 (@FTBeard7) September 11, 2022
The Bears were given a 15-yard penalty for an illegal use of a towel. It knocked them out of field goal range. pic.twitter.com/OBlLDaXJl6
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) September 11, 2022
Instead of Santos attempting a field goal, Gill had to drop into punt formation.
#Bears setting up for 47-yard FG. Holder Trenton Gill brought towel on field and was penalized 15 yards for doing so. HUH? Raise your hand if you've never seen that before! I mean, they let a snowplow driver on the field once to clear a path for a game-winning FG in New England!
— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) September 11, 2022
