Matt Harrelson
Poor Marcus Williams.
Before Sunday, no one outside of die-hard New Orleans Saints fans knew who this guy was, and now he's in line to be the next crying Michael Jordan meme. Or at the very least, the pariah of the internet for the next week. I've already seen entire Facebook pages dedicated to online shaming this guy.
But you know, that's the price you pay to play professional sports sometimes. If there has to be a hero like Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs, then there must be a goat. And I don't mean “greatest of all time.”
However, that's why we watch not just football, but any sporting event; for the ups and downs, the good years and the bad ones, the No. 1 picks and the championships.
It's the emotion involved when something big happens that makes all the less-than-stellar moments worth it. Anyone who is not a Saints fan but loves sports, probably, like myself, got goosebumps when Diggs pulled that ball down, saw that Williams had missed him and continued on untouched into the end zone. To hear the roar of the crowd go up and up as he got closer and closer to the touchdown; it truly is a thing of beauty.
Watching Vikings quarterback Case Keenum mouth "Oh, my God," it made me nostalgic for all the times I ever did something well in sports growing up. It also reminded me of past endeavors that my teams have or have not accomplished that made me say the same thing.
Atlanta Braves first baseman Sid Bream beating Barry Bonds' throw to home to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1992 NLCS, or on the other end when Villanova hit the stunning buzzer beater in the 2016 National Championship to beat my beloved Tar Heels. Those "Oh my God" moments can go either way.
But that's why we watch. And so after the end of what some are saying is the greatest NFL playoff game of all time, Diggs could tell the sideline reporter, "I still don't know what just happened," and you absolutely believe him because you don't either.
It's why no matter how expensive it is to attend professional games these days, you hope that the one game you go to will end up like that one, and you can cheer along with Keenum as he claps his hands together screaming "SKOL!"
Kids love teams that their parents and grandparents loved, and that in turn gets passed down even further through future generations.
Jerseys and chants and the atmosphere and the camaraderie is all why in that one moment, but on any given day, sports make us happy. And this is why we watch.
