habeas grabus

A term (coined by Tunch Ilken, Craig Wolfley, and possibly even Myron Cope) referring to the penalty of 'holding' in football. Its use often correlates to the severity of the penalty. For example, 'habeas grabus' would be used in situations where the penalty is less detrimental to the Steelers, like any game in which the Steelers are playing the Browns. No matter how many holding penalties get called against the Steelers, Cleaveland is not going to win. This is true for almost any other team in the NFL who plays the Browns. However, the holding penalty called against Justin Hartwig in Superbowl XLIII that resulted in a safety and almost cost the Steelers a 6th superbowl title would probably be met with a reaction such as "Fuck!" or "If the ref had one more eye, he'd be a cyclops!" or even "I'm so shit-faced, I don't even know who's playing right now".

A term (coined by Tunch Ilken, Craig Wolfley, and possibly even Myron Cope) referring to the penalty of 'holding' in football. Its use often correlates to the severity of the penalty. For example, 'habeas grabus' would be used in situations where the penalty is less detrimental to the Steelers, like any game in which the Steelers are playing the Browns. No matter how many holding penalties get called against the Steelers, Cleaveland is not going to win. This is true for almost any other team in the NFL who plays the Browns. However, the holding penalty called against Justin Hartwig in Superbowl XLIII that resulted in a safety and almost cost the Steelers a 6th superbowl title would probably be met with a reaction such as "Fuck!" or "If the ref had one more eye, he'd be a cyclops!" or even "I'm so shit-faced, I don't even know who's playing right now".