After playing on the road and upsetting the favored New England Patriots 33-14, the Ravens will now go on the road again to face an even tougher foe in the 14-2 Indianapolis Colts. But as ESPN’s Rick Reilly reports, the Ravens have an ace in the hole.
Matthew Costello is 14 years old and has an inoperable brain tumor. But that hasn’t stopped him from calling plays for the Ravens. How’s that, you ask? Let’s start at the beginning.
Following an injury to his eye that lead to double vision and after countless visits to doctors, it was eventually discovered Matt had a malignant tumor. As it happens, a classmate of Matt’s is the son of Cam Cameron, the offensive coordinator for, yes, the Baltimore Ravens. Cam Cameron finds out how big of a fan Matt is and actually drives out to the Costello household — in the biggest snowstorm Baltimore had seen in years — to talk to Matt.
After they talked for a little while, Cameron asks Matt if he wants to call the Ravens’ first play for the Ravens’ Week 15 game against the Chicago Bears as the team’s trying to make the playoffs. Matt, naturally, agrees, calling a “play-action pass,” which is supposed to look like a run, but the quarterback fakes a hand-off and passes it instead. He also suggests throwing the ball to tight end Todd Heap.
First play of the game is, in fact, a play-action, but quarterback Joe Flacco throws an incomplete pass. Later in the same series, Cameron sees Matt’s name on the play sheet, so he calls the play-action again. What happens? A 14-yard touchdown to, you guessed it, Todd Heap.
Fast-forward three weeks later. Cameron calls Matt again the night before the playoff game against the Patriots, asking for a first play. He calls for a run play to Ray Rice because, “He’s hot.” The next day, on the first play, none other than Ray Rice gets the ball and scampers for an 83-yard touchdown. How do you do.
And, yes, Cam Cameron will be calling Matt in advance of the game against the Colts. Reilly asked Matt what he’s planning to call. Matt’s response: “I haven’t decided yet.” As Reilly notes, that makes sense, because the Colts might be reading the article.
If I were the Colts, I’d be a little nervous right about now.
Photo courtesy of stock.xchng
