PHOENIX -- NFL owners could eliminate the "tuck rule" at the ongoing NFL annual meeting, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was asked how he might vote.
"To be honest, prior to the snow game, I never knew what the tuck rule was," Kraft joked, referring to the play against the Raiders in the playoffs that kept the Patriots' Super Bowl hopes alive. "I love the tuck rule and forever will.
"I know [late Raiders owner] Al Davis, may he rest in peace, is probably smiling. But whatever the rule is, it is, I will forever ... I have a picture, a big photograph in my office that Jon Gruden gave me with the snow coming down, and [Patriots quarterback Tom Brady] in that position. He signed it, 'It was a fumble.' I'll probably give that to the [charitable] foundation to auction off at some point.
"But, you know, we followed the rules."
Under the proposed rule change, a quarterback who loses control of the football when bringing it back to his body after a pump fake will be deemed to have fumbled. Under the current rule, such a play would result in an incompletion.
In the 2002 playoff game, that was the case when Brady was hit from behind by Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson. A video review overturned the call of a fumble, which prolonged the Patriots' drive. New England came from behind to win the game and went on to win Super Bowl XXXVI.
The Raiders organization hasn't forgotten about the play either. On its official Twitter feed the team tweeted Friday, "Tuck Rule? It's been 11 years, 1 month and 23 daysÂ…but who's counting?"
Asked what he might vote, Kraft responded, "I might have to abstain on that emotionally. That's a hard one. I have a great bond with the tuck rule."
Information from ESPNBoston.com's Field Yates was used in this report.