[Ads-l] Take a knee

[Wilson Gray]

A "special team's" kick-return specialist who receives the kick in the end
zone will also "take a knee" to signal that he has chosen not to try to
return the ball from the end zone against the opposing team's "special
team."

On Sun, Dec 24, 2017 at 10:23 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> All of this is discussed in the Language Log post I linked to upthread.
>
>
> http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=34671
> Beginning in the '90s, "taking a knee" or "taking the knee" often referred
> to the "quarterback kneel," where the quarterback on the winning team runs
> out the clock by kneeling after the snap — either to protect a small lead
> or as a show of sportsmanship with a larger lead.
>
> [linking to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarterback_kneel ]
>
>
>
> On Sun, Dec 24, 2017 at 8:18 AM, Dennis During <dcduring at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Sun, Dec 24, 2017 at 12:50 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: Take a knee
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > -------------------
> > >
> > > Wasn't there once a time when there was only a trivial amount of time
> > left
> > > and the winning team had the ball and, though, officially, there was
> time
> > > left for one more play, running that play would be pointless? So, the
> > > winning team would go into the spread formation, the ball would be
> > snapped
> > > and the quarterback, instead of trying needlessly to run a useless
> play,
> > > would simply "take a knee" - i.e. drop to one knee - thereby ending the
> > > play and, consequently, the game.
> > >
> > > ​There indeed once was and still is such a time. The practice and the
> use
> > of the expression "take a knee" by sportscasters​ probably can be
> observed
> > and heard today on football broadcasts.
> >
> >
>
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>



-- 
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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