finding a player to throw the lateral pass was easier. frank wycheck was discovered one day by offensive coordinator les steckel playing a throwing game with lineman bruce matthews entitled "reindeer games," which they invented to play while the two were bored at practice. steckel then designed an option pass play with wycheck in mind. when the team ran the play against the atlanta falcons in the 1999 season, wycheck threw a 61-yard touchdown pass. after the success of this play, alan lowry assigned wycheck to throw the play's lateral.