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'The World Knows I Caught It!' Crappy Anniversary for Cowboys' Dez Bryant vs. Green Bay Packers

'The World Knows I Caught It!' Crappy Anniversary for Dallas Cowboys' Dez Bryant vs. Green Bay Packers

Timm Hamm

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FRISCO - Few plays in Dallas Cowboys history stand out more than one that occurred in the 2015 NFC Divisional playoff game against Mike McCarthy and the Packers.

That day, Cowboys wideout Dez Bryant, Packers corner Sam Shields and replay official Dean Blandino became forever intertwined in what became known for Dallas fans as the "Dez Caught It" game.

Dez Bryant Packers
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

McCarthy was coaching the Packers at the time, and after taking over the Cowboys job in 2020, one of the first questions he had to address was about that game.

"I can’t tell you how many people from Dallas have told me about that rule,'' McCarthy said, grinning at the fact his Packers beat the Cowboys, 26-21, to advance to the NFC Championship Game. "It’s funny. It was a great catch, I’ll just say now, but it wasn’t then, technically.”

“I said after the game, that was one hell of an athletic play,'' McCarthy said. "I mean, I was impressed. Dez and Sam Shields, you talk about two great athletes going after the football.''

Even Bryant still remembers his "catch" on social media every year, and Thursday was no exception.

"The whole world knows I caught it!'' Bryant wrote. "I changed the game forever!''

As the Cowboys and Packers prepare for a Wild Card matchup on Sunday afternoon, there's little doubt that the play will be replayed over and over again on the FOX pregame and broadcast.

It's one of the few negative memories Cowboys fans have to endure. For longtime Dallas fans, it's right up there with Bart Starr's goal line quarterback sneak in the 1967 NFL Championship game at a frigid Lambeau Field that sent the Packers to Suber Bowl II against the Oakland Raiders.

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The play forever changed the league's definition of a catch. And still - nine years later - we're still wondering. But there's one thing Cowboys fans know even to this day ... Dez Caught It.

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Timm Hamm
TIMM HAMM

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