Pretty sure Randle-El, Burress and Ambrose played in states that had adopted overtime before they were in HS?conace21 wrote:I looked at players who would have been in high school or college in the 90's for reactions. Jason Taylor is one. He never played to a tie in college
From the Steelers-Falcons tie in 2002. Most of these players played college football after 1996, but high school football in the early to mid 90's.
"It was strange," Aaron Smith said. "That game seemed like it lasted forever. We were playing and playing and playing. It was an awful feeling. I would have rather lost than have it end in a tie. You want to come away with something. I remember it was an awkward feeling."
Antwan Randle-El
"That's a game I wish I can just forget. To come out with a tie after you put so much time in working is tough. There shouldn't be ties. Let it go on and on. You put four hours into it, the whole week you put effort into it, and it becomes a tie? I was just empty. I remember thinking, 'What do you mean it's over?'
"We didn't win but, we didn't lose,'' Plaxico Burress said. "It's so disappointing. You have this uneasy feeling that you lost, but you know you really didn't.''
Ashley Ambrose said. "When you get through, you're not sure if you're happy or not. It's an empty kind of feeling, because you had an opportunity and a chance to win.''
I know Texas stayed with ties for a long time, most states eliminated ties/adopted OT sometime between mid-70's to late-80's, with only a couple stragglers into the 90's. I know in WA we had OT going back to when the state playoffs were created (think Illinois has a similar history, starting OT when the state playoffs started) though JV games in WA could still end in a tie for another decade or so, ha.
Regardless, not just the foreign concept, but competitors, of course no one would be satisfied with a tie (with the context of it being instead of a win) and numerous coaches/players at various levels of football have been quoted as saying "I'd rather lose than tie" (which is rarely a true statement, though some coaches put that into practice) but all those quotes, at least that I've seen, were after at least one level of football had some form of OT so it was known that you can keep playing after four quarters. As each level eliminated ties it became more ingrained that you keep playing until there's a winner.
I wouldn't argue that coaches/players don't want a game to end in a tie, but I would argue it's because it's a foreign concept (such as when coaches/players say ties are un-American) and it became a foreign concept because all levels of football, at one point or another, adopted OT and all but the NFL eliminated the possibility of a tie. In addition to baseball and basketball being more popular here than hockey and soccer. The latter two where ties are/were accepted -- at least until the NHL went full gimmick though most fans I know hate the shootout and would rather have ties.
