In Week One of the 2008 season Buffalo's special teams successfully orchestrated a fake field goal attempt in which Brian Moorman took the snap, stood up and threw a touchdown pass to a wide open Ryan Denney for a touchdown to all but ensure a season opening victory (34-10). The game, which aired on FOX, appeared four months later on one of the network's promos for their new drama 'Lie to Me.'
The scene opens with a group of people watching the Bills-Seahawks game on television. As Lindell lines up for the field goal, the show's lead character Dr. Cal Lightman examines Lindell's body language and facial expressions and pegs the play as a fake.
Lindell didn't see the promo himself, but was quickly made aware of its appearance on television.
"Ryan Denney's wife Laura sent my wife Johna a text asking her if she saw the commercial with me in it," Lindell told Buffalobills.com. "We didn't know what she was talking about, but then somebody called us and then my mom called. So we looked on YouTube for trailers and couldn't find anything. I still haven't seen it, but my mom wanted to know if I got paid for it."
Royalties don't appear to be part of the deal. Lindell also isn't surprised the show saw him as a good candidate to illustrate when someone is hiding something. The Bills kicker admits his poker face is not one of the better ones.
"I don't think you have to be a genius in reading facial expressions to figure that one out," said Lindell of his pre-snap appearance. "My eyes were darting over to the left looking at Denney."
In fact Lindell's eyes glanced over at Denney twice along the near sideline before getting himself in position as if he was going to attempt a field goal.
"I took a peek out there and saw that nobody was covering him and I'm thinking to myself, 'Oh my gosh there's nobody out there,'" said Lindell. "You can probably almost read my lips where I'm saying, 'Snap it, snap it.' So I know I didn't hide it very well."
No word from FOX as to whether the promo scene for the drama will actually appear in a future episode, but Lindell joked that he's finally gone Hollywood.
"I guess my plan is coming to fruition," said Lindell laughing. "Play nine years in the NFL and finally get in a commercial. That's how I've always planned to break into the business."
