In case you didn't hear, legendary actor Elizabeth Taylor died this morning at the age of 79. She was among the most important female icons of the 20th century.
In 1989 Taylor played an important, if unusual, role in a Redskins win against the Cowboys in Dallas. According to the Jim Souhan of SportsDay DFW, during the coin toss that day, the head referee let Taylor perform the duties of the Cowboys captains; and that didn't sit too well with the Redskins. The full story after the jump.
Evidently, referee Pat Haggerty considered her more important than the Cowboys' players. Here are his opening words: "Captains from Dallas, meet the captains from Washington. Captains from Washington, meet Liz Taylor and Jerry Jones."
Haggerty then flipped the coin. Liz, who was supposed to flip it, instead called it. "Heads," she said.
It landed heads up, but one of the Redskins protested that the visiting team is supposed to make the call. "It's our ball, man," said tight end Terry Orr.
The problem being, of course, is that Taylor represented the Cowboys captains (for some reason) then made a call that was supposed to be made by the Redskins. A call she never should have made in the first place. After admitting his mistake, the referee then flipped the coin again, it came up in favor of the Redskins. They went on to win the game 30-7.
It just goes to show how many different aspects of daily life Taylor left her mark on.