Unraveling the Physics Mystery Behind the Spiral Pass in Monday Night Football

The thrill of Monday Night Football returns, making it an ideal moment to delve into the physics behind one of football’s most captivating aspects – the spiral pass. If you’re a regular viewer of professional games, you’ve likely witnessed these near-perfect throws where the football spirals elegantly through the air after being released from a player’s hand. These passes can appear to defy basic physics principles, leaving scientists puzzled for years. That was until experimental atomic physicist Tim Gay unraveled the mystery over the past few years. His explanation comes following two decades of personal research and multiple heated debates with fellow physicists over video conferencing.

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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson, edited by Rebecca Ramirez (our showrunner), and fact-checked by Brit Hanson. Gilly Moon handled the audio engineering.