Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE
Raise your hand if you knew who Stephen Burton was before today. I watch a lot of football, but I had never heard of the Minnesota Vikings wide receiver but a lot of people will know his name after his touchdown on Sunday. It may have been extremely lucky, but that is why the tip drill gets practiced.
(Hat Tip: ParadigmShift35)
Let us walk through this play. It was basically a last gasp effort of the Vikes. They needed a touchdown on this drive to stay alive and it looked like it was going to end poorly. The Christian Ponder pass had no chance as it was tipped right after he threw the ball. It rocketed up in the air and bounced off a couple more hands before landing in Burton’s waiting arms.
People always say the tip drill is kind of a waste of time. Teams spend a lot of time practicing it, but you almost never end up using it in a game. However, there are those times when you have to use it and it can be a big difference. If not for the tip drill here, the Vikings were dead in the water. Instead, they have a chance to get back into this game.
You should see this play all over the highlight reels for the next few days. There have been some great plays this week, but this was probably the wackiest of all of them. Anytime you can catch a TD after this many bounces, you need some recognition.
Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.
