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Stephen Holder, ESPN
DALLAS COWBOYS QUARTERBACK Dak Prescott approached the line of scrimmage and analyzed the defensive formation before shifting his receivers.
He kept one eye on the play clock, which was winding down, prompting him to shout three of the most recognizable words of this NFL season.
“Here we go!”
The phrase has become a rallying cry for the team’s fan base. There’s even a song celebrating the phrase, performed by Preston Wayne and 13lackbeard.
Sing it with us now! 🗣️🎶#SEAvsDAL on Prime | @pepsi pic.twitter.com/iTyE6zyveV
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 29, 2023
Hearing quarterbacks bark commands is part and parcel to watching football these days. You might hear the Buffalo Bills‘ Josh Allen holler “LeBron James,” Denver Broncos‘ Russell Wilson make a Formula One reference when he bellows “Max Verstappen,” or the Los Angeles Rams‘ Matthew Stafford shouting “Kershaw” (as in Cy Young winner and Stafford’s high school buddy Clayton Kershaw).
What does any of this have to do with football? Quite a lot, actually. And why does it sometimes seem as if quarterbacks are speaking another language? Because, in a way, they are.
Sophisticated parabolic microphones — the handheld, dished-shaped ones you often see broadcast crew members holding on the sidelines — are intended to deliver sounds of the game as clearly as if you’re on the field. But often to the chagrin of quarterbacks, those microphones pick up a fair amount of communication from the signal-callers.
“I don’t know at what point they really turned those mics up, but it definitely happened,” Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said.
There are various kinds of terminology used by quarterbacks. In the case of Prescott, “Here we go” is a command to the offense to get set for the snap. There are coded words to relay audible calls that will dictate a change in the playcall, blocking assignments or pass routes. Every word means something. Unless it’s a “dummy” call, in which case it means nothing. Also, a single word can mean one thing one week and something else the next.
Confused? Good. That’s the point.
“Really, we wanted to make sure that we’re all getting off [at the same time], using the cadence to our advantage,” Prescott told the Amazon Prime postgame show last month. “The linemen wanted a little something before [the snap]. For me, really, it’s to tell them, ‘Stop the communicating. Here we go.'”
THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS did not have a preseason game on Oct. 8, so James — being a big NFL fan — made some predictions online and watched football.
One of his selections was the Bills beating the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags were leading 11-0 with 1:42 in the second quarter when Allen yelled out “LeBron James, LeBron James.”
“I wonder what that ‘LeBron James’ audible Josh Allen yelled out meant,” James tweeted.
Even though Allen called it “one of our best plays,” it resulted in an incomplete pass to Tre Walker, and the Jaguars went on to win 25-20.
“We have a lot of code words,” Allen said a few days later. “I’m sure over the course of our games, especially when there’s no noise, you’ll hear quite a few, whether it’s athletes or celebrities or whatever.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff in our game plan we can call, and it makes it fun for the guys.”
Broncos brought out the “Max Verstappen” audible pic.twitter.com/HidoMbH1Vg
— NFL (@NFL) November 20, 2023
Wilson apparently was having some fun with the Verstappen call, considering Verstappen is an F1 rival of Broncos minority owner Lewis Hamilton. Wilson also has shouted “pizza, pizza” pre-snap, and on Sunday night, he yelled “Dan Campbell” before a play, perhaps an homage to the Lions coach whose team clinched its first division title since 1993 earlier in the day.
Offenses have to communicate at the line of scrimmage. In no-huddle scenarios, there is an even greater need because all communication takes place at the line. There’s just one problem: The defense, which is inches away, can hear all of it.
A surprising amount of the competition in any NFL game occurs before the ball is snapped, with defenses feigning blitzes or disguising coverages. Meanwhile, offenses use pre-snap motion to bait defenders into giving clues about their intentions.
In one amusing example from 2014, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and then-New York Giants middle linebacker Jameel McClain engaged in a back-and-forth that was captured by the Fox broadcast. Romo, in the midst of his cadence, stepped to the line of scrimmage and pointed to McClain, shouting, “53’s the MIKE,” or middle linebacker. It’s a tactic commonly used to establish the offensive line’s blocking assignments. Only this time, in an effort to create confusion, McClain yelled back, “I’m not the MIKE! I’m not the MIKE!”
McClain got the last laugh when the Giants’ pass rush flushed Romo from the pocket and McClain made the tackle.
In 2016, a broadcast captured former Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews and former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in a battle of wits. Matthews believed he had sniffed out Carolina’s intent after an audible call by Newton and began loudly imploring his teammates to watch for a wheel route to running back Christian McCaffrey.
“You’ve been watching film, too, huh?” Newton yelled. “That’s cool. Watch this.”
Newton proceeded to hit McCaffrey on a slant for a short touchdown pass.
HALL OF FAME quarterback Peyton Manning is famous for his use of the term “Omaha” at the line of scrimmage, but former teammate Reggie Wayne said it was just one of numerous terms Manning used.
“It got to the point where plays were girlfriends’ and wives’ names,” Wayne said. “So, I didn’t know who ‘Lauren’ is. I’m just going to go block the safety.”
Manning was fiercely protective of his offense’s tactics, and that was reflected in the level of complexity with which he operated. Manning would often call two plays in the huddle in case an audible became necessary because of the defense’s personnel or coverage. That audible would be communicated through a code word. But Manning would often issue a command in the huddle to “disregard,” which meant he was going to say something at the line to mislead the defense and his teammates should ignore it.
It was Manning’s version of a dummy call.
“So, we’re going to continue to [run] the play that we were supposed to,” Wayne said. “But the disregard part might be something that’s actually in our playbook. So, you’ve got to be locked in.”
For the record, “Omaha” was not a specific play but, rather, an indicator that Manning was alerting his offense to switch to the alternate play called in the huddle. Hearing it on a weekly basis provided no advantage to defenses because they could not predict that alternate play.
None of this, however, stops defensive players and coaches from doing their part to decode quarterbacks’ lingo. NFL defenses, in an effort to gain the slightest advantage, comb through television broadcasts before playing an upcoming opponent. Players and coaches can occasionally pick up tendencies and pair them with specific terminology, giving them potential clues before the snap.
Take the Colts defense, for instance.
Early in each game week, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said he and teammates watch the television version of the opponent’s last game.
“I definitely take notes,” he said. “There’s some key words you can pick up on and what they’re saying at the line of scrimmage, whether it’s protections or some audibles that they do with checking to certain runs. You try to hear those things, but it’s not 100% all the time.”
Early in the game, Buckner said, he’ll refrain from making too many guesses, and he’ll assume the offense has changed its terminology. But, sometimes, offenses slip up.
“You’re kind of expecting a certain play, and if it holds true, then you’ve got the green light anytime you hear it,” Buckner said.
Of course, offenses are well aware of this. Most teams pay close attention to terminology that can be heard on broadcasts and adjust accordingly.
“It’s a chess match,” Wayne said.
OFFENSIVE PLAYERS AND coaches generally believe they have the upper hand in the game within the game. After all, they never have to guess what play is coming.
In a recent tangential situation, images of Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton’s call sheet were shared widely on social media after a TV closeup during a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Some playcalls and their corresponding terms were readable — a QB sneak is apparently called “Converse” — but Payton shrugged when asked about it.
“I don’t worry about it,” Payton said. “When everyone sent it to me, it was like, this game is so spontaneous and fast. The language teams can look at, everything is on tape… There are a ton of things we change. Each night, we have a new, not audible, but a term we use that we might [change]. Trying to give a defensive player [a heads up], that guy is going to look at you like you’re nuts.”
Yet in 2014, Payton took umbrage with the expanding access of television networks after a close-up of his call sheet was shown during a “Monday Night Football” broadcast.
“Pretty soon,” he joked, “they’ll be in our bench area helping out with the play calls.”
“I’m a BIG DEAL in Omaha, Nebraska now” 😂😂 ~Peyton Manning#PMSCFBESPN2 pic.twitter.com/67o0HY4z1Y
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 2, 2022
In the meantime, fans have to be content with hearing the calls at the line of scrimmage.
Former Packers and current New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was known to shout “Green 19” during his time in Green Bay. It’s a nod to one of Green Bay’s colors and the year — 1919 — the Packers were founded. Jordan Love has continued the tradition.
During his time with the Packers, Rodgers was skilled at drawing defenders offsides with his cadence, creating a free play and opportunity to take shots deep down the field. He said he’s seen Prescott do the same.
“I’m watching him use his cadence beautifully, and get into this rhythmic ‘Here we go'” Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show”. “Using it as a dummy sometimes, doing it twice, into like other cadences.”
It might just be a coincidence, but “Here we go,” “LeBron James” and “Omaha” are all three-syllable words, and Manning said the three-syllable rhythm of “Omaha” was part of the appeal.
Of course, the stories behind these calls become more intriguing against a backdrop of success. For Manning, it helped him create the entertainment company “Omaha Productions.” Whether Prescott can parlay “Here we go!” into something similar remains to be seen.
“I love the way he’s playing,” Rodgers said. “I’m not talking about making good throws. It seems more rare that guys are actually really playing the position where you’re making adjustments, you’re handling everything at the line of scrimmage, now you’re doing this crazy cadence stuff.
“I love it.”
ESPN Cowboys reporter Todd Archer, Packers reporter Rob Demovsky, Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold and Chiefs reporter Adam Teicher contributed to this report.