Former Terp Makes Catch For the Ages

There are certain playoff moments that will live on forever: A hobbled Kirk Gibson hitting a pinch hit home run to win the 1988 World Series, Michael Jordan’s buzzer beater in game one of the 1997 NBA finals, the Blue Jay’s Joe Carter’s walk-off homer in the 1993 World Series. You can now add Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs’ improbable, amazing, mind-blowing touchdown catch against the Saints with 10 seconds on the clock to that list.

Of course, Terps fans, who were lucky enough to watch Diggs for three seasons at College Park, already knew how great he was. There was a sense that, as long as Diggs was on your side, you were never completely out of the game. Last night, he proved that. 

The game, in total, was bananas. The Vikings were up 17-0 at halftime and looked poised to go on to a comfortable win. Then, Drew Brees and the Saints came storming back. With 25 seconds on the clock, the Saints’ Will Lutz nailed a 43 yard field goal and the Saints went up 24-23. The Vikings had just one time out remaining. Game over, right?

Not so fast. 

With ten seconds—ten!—left in the game, Vikings QB Case Keenum (yes, I just had to look up the spelling of his name), hurled a corner route pass to Diggs. The idea was that if Diggs caught the ball, he’d run out of bounds, thus stopping the clock, and the Vikings would get their own chance for a game winning field goal. Except that’s not how it went down. Diggs leapt high in the air, caught the ball over a Saints defender, somehow managed to regain his balance, and found himself with a clear path to the end zone. Touchdown. Game (really) over now.

Here’s the catch, made all the more dramatic with the Titanic theme song:

And here’s Diggs’ perfect celebration (not counting the lame-o ref who threw a flag after Diggs excitedly tossed his helmet).

It’s always tough when the Ravens miss the playoffs, especially in the very bad, horrible, no good way with which they were ousted, but it’s nice to know that we can happily root for Diggs and the Vikings. Or, maybe you want to root for former Raven and Terp Torrey Smith, who’s still alive for the Philadelphia Eagles. For what it’s worth, Smith seemed as excited about Diggs’ catch as we were:

No matter what happens, Diggs has already cemented his status as a legend.