I hear what you're saying man, and I agree that this is how the kneel down is generally viewed.

My problem is that I don't know what made these players decide the kneel down was a gentleman thing. I've always thought of it as a way to run out the clock without risking a turnover. But if you're the defense, you have to try to disrupt that center. Sure, someone could have gotten hurt, but we can say that about every play. The object of the game is to win, and the last play -when you're only down one score- should be no different than any other play.

Now, I know that many have argued that injury was more likely because the Giants were somehow caught off guard, but when I see the replay it was very obvious that the Bucs were ready to send the house. They weren't just standing around. So it's the Giants fault, in my humble opinion, for taking it for granted and allowing themselves to get pushed back like that... And I'll add that if players still think the kneel is a universal "everybody stop playing" signal, then I agree with Jerry Jones that they should just outlaw it.

The Miracle at the Meadowlands: Later that season, on November 19, 1978 the New York Giants were closing out an apparent 17-12 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Eagles. With 31 seconds left to play, they had the ball on third down. The Eagles had no timeouts left. All the Giants had to do was snap the ball one more time, and since they had knelt with the ball on the play before, it was expected they would do it and the game would be over. However, the kneel-down play wasn't universally accepted as an honorable way to win a game at the time, and Giants' offensive coordinator Bob Gibson ordered quarterback Joe Pisarcik (with whom he had been having a running feud over play-calling authority) to hand the ball off to fullback Larry Csonka for one more run up the middle to end the game. Csonka was reluctant to take the ball, and instead Pisarcik fumbled the handoff, allowing Eagles' cornerback Herman Edwards to return it for the winning touchdown. The Fumble, as outraged Giants' fans still call it, spurred the Eagles to the playoffs that season and precipitated a complete overhaul of the Giants' coaching and management staff, eventually reversing years of decline. Gibson was fired the next day. The following week, kneeling with the ball when possible to run out the clock and preserve a victory became standard operating procedure in the NFL.