What’s wrong with me? Am I crazy? Am I crazy? Am I crazy?

That’s been the lament of my week. How about you? Football historians will also recognize it as one of the most famous game calls in history.

In the 1920s, Graham McNamee became the world’s first broadcasting superstar, the first sports color commentator, the guy who covered everything from the play-by-play of the World Series to political conventions to Charles Lindbergh’s arrival in back New York after his transatlantic flight. But perhaps his most famous on-air moment came while calling the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, 1929.

The University of California Golden Bears were facing off against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets with the National Championship on the line. And the nation was listening. The teams were in a scoreless tie in the second when Tech running back Stumpy Thomason fumbled on his own 36. California center Roy Reigels, in on defense, recovered on the 30. All he had to do was fall on the ball, and the Golden Bears were within scoring range. But Riegels was determined to be the hero.

He scooped up the ball … and started to run … in the wrong direction.

Downs

“What am I seeing? What’s wrong with me?” McNamee screamed into the mike as Riegels dodged tacklers from his own team. “Am I crazy? Am I crazy? Am I crazy?”

Of course, Riegels couldn’t hear McNamee. He couldn’t hear Benny Lom either. His teammate was running alongside screaming something Roy couldn’t quite make out. At the California three yard line, Lom lurched at his friend, trying to turn him. The Yellow Jackets swarmed, driving them down at the one. Finally, Riegels realized what he’d done. “What’s wrong with me? Am I crazy? Am I crazy? Am I crazy?” Riegels probably asked himself those same questions.

The Golden Bears elected to punt, but it was blocked, and thanks to Roy’s wrong-way run, the Yellow Jackets scored a two-point safety.

When the team went in at the half, Roy sat in the locker room, sobbing. But Coach Clarence “Nibs” Price never mentioned his blunder. He simply called for the starters, including Riegels, to head back onto the field for the third quarter.

“I can’t do it, Coach,” Riegels told him. “I’ve ruined you. I’ve ruined myself. I’ve ruined the University of California. I couldn’t face the crowd in that stadium to save my life.”

Coach Price didn’t give him a flowery speech. He just patted him on the back and said, “Roy, get up and go back out there. The game is only half over.”

And ups

Riegels played exceptionally well during the second half, but the Golden Bears lost 8–7, the safety scored as a result of his mistake making the difference. But he recovered from the loss and the ridicule that followed. He was a team captain the following year and made All-American. After coaching high school ball, he eventually coached for a time at Cal before becoming head of his own chemical company. And somewhere along the way, he even learned to embrace the nickname “Wrong Way Riegels.”

Roy Riegels’s story is a good reminder that if we want to get past our own mistakes—whatever they are—we should spend less time asking ourselves What’s wrong with me? Am I crazy? Am I crazy? Am I crazy? and more time reminding ourselves “the game is only half over.” It’s the direction we take from this point forward that matters.