You Will NOT Believe the Historical Threads of Andy Dalton’s MNF Interception

Andy Dalton threw one pass on Monday night, and it was intercepted. Rich wanted to know how often that happens. The answer led him to one of the most remarkable sports lives you have never heard of.

Dalton was only in the game because Jalen Hurts was in the blue tent. As soon as the pick happened, Rich texted Jack, the NFL Network's "researcher extraordinaire," with a question: how many times has somebody thrown one pass in a season, with that only attempt being an interception? If everything goes well for the Eagles the rest of the year, Rich reasoned, that may be Dalton's only attempt.

The answer came back: five times. The last quarterback to do it was an Eagle, Koy Detmer, in 2000. Another name on the list might jump out: 1974 Detroit Lions backup and future Bengals coach Sam Wyche. One attempt, one interception. (One member of the crew noted Felipe Franks also did it in 2021, and Rich explained the list stuck to quarterbacks.)

But the name Rich really needed to talk about was Dean Look, a 1962 New York Titan who threw an interception in his only appearance that year. Jack did a deeper dive, and Rich could not keep it to himself.

In 1959, Look was a Michigan State Spartan who finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting. The year before, he was the MVP of the baseball team. He is in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

Then he tried Major League Baseball with the 1961 White Sox. He went 0 for 6, and those were the only at bats of his career. So he tried football, joined the Titans in 1962, and threw an interception on his only attempt. "It's not just of the season, his career," Rich said. The Titans became the Jets the next year.

Still not the end of it. Ten years later, Look became an NFL referee, and he worked 29 seasons, from 1972 to 2001.

Rich put up a photo. Dwight Clark spiking the ball after The Catch, with Dean Look in the end zone signaling touchdown. "No way," came the reaction from the room.

Then Rich put up another, from Look's final game as a referee. The Tuck Rule game. "Pardon me. Snow game," Rich corrected himself, after the crew erupted. Look was part of the crew that huddled up asking whether it was a fumble or not.

The timing made it even better. Look's one pass came against Denver, on September 30, 1962. "That took place 64 years ago today," Rich said. And Look is still alive at 89.

Everyone could barely keep up. "Proves you can have a second career," one said. "Or four careers," came the reply. Another dubbed him "the Moonlight Graham of football." One member of the crew admitted hating that first photo, calling The Catch "the bane of my football existence," but conceded the story was amazing.

To recap: 0 for 6 in his baseball career, one interception in his lone attempt of his football career, then 29 years as a referee standing in the middle of two of the most famous plays in NFL history.

"I love stories like that, man," Rich said. "You know, I'll try baseball. I'll try football. And then I'll just become a ref for 30 years."

All of it from a single Andy Dalton interception on a Monday night, an attempt that might stand alone on his stat line this year, because, as Rich put it, Jalen Hurts, knock on wood for him and the Eagles, "doesn't miss football games."

"Wherever you are, Dean Look," Rich said, "hello, sir. Hope you're doing well."