In the New Orleans vs. Atlanta game on December 24th, Marshon Lattimore intercepted Falcons Quarterback, Matt Ryan, in an unconventional manner. The strange and, I guess, impressive, pick inspired me to write this article on some of the best examples of plays involving the rear end in the NFL.
5. "Look, ma, no hands!"
Okay, I'll start with the motivation for this piece. As I said before, the Saints cornerback picked the pass at the end of the first half by essentially using only his butt. (Good thing he does his squats, am I right?) This is Lattimore's fifth interception of the season (3rd in the last three games), adding fuel to the fire for his Defensive Rookie of the Year campaign. The Saints would go on to win this game 23-13, improving to an 11-4 record, clinching them a playoff berth for the first time since 2013.
4. A Nice, Tight End
The Denver Broncos' fifth-round tight end out of Michigan, Jake Butt, already made an interesting positional choice considering his name, but the irony was taken further when a local news station (News Channel 13, KRDO in Colorado) made a costly error in their graphic editing. They accidentally replaced 'end' with 'butt', and, well, the joke speaks for itself. However, Jake Butt isn't easily offended by these bummy jokes; he even has an endorsement deal with Charmin, the toilet paper company (Diaz).
A winner of the 2016 John Mackey Award for the best collegiate tight end in the country, Jake has yet to play in his first NFL game due to an ACL injury and surgical repair early in 2017, but offensive coordinator Mike McCoy told reporters he is, "excited to get him out there whenever he's ready to go," [usatoday].
3. A Minor Slip Up
On December 16th, 2012, DeMarco Murray made an impressive 12 yard run with about 3 and a half minutes left in the 3rd quarter; however, that's not what most people took away from the first down. Unfortunately for Murray, the camera crew could not move fast enough to shield the audience from a brief yet obvious moment of vulnerability for the former 2011 3rd round running back draft pick. According to SB Nation writer Bill Hanstock, the best part of the incident was, "the little pause and slide where the pants come all the way down past the rump," and I have to agree with him wholeheartedly.
The Cowboys still defeated the Steelers, 27-24 off of a 21-yard field goal in overtime. However, we were blessed with hilarious meme and gif ammunition, so who were the real winners? The eighth wonder of the world, or DeMarco Murray's bare ass - the world may never know.
2. An Old-School Butt-Whooping
This technically isn't one specific play, but Super Bowl XXIV, a face-off between the star-studded San Francisco 49ers and the John Elway-led Denver Broncos, ended in the biggest Super Bowl blowout, or "butt"-whooping in NFL history. The final score was an embarrassing 55-10. The Broncos were picked apart by a lethal offense, who scored eight touchdowns that game, including three end zone connections from Hall of Famer Joe Montana to Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. They ended the game with 317 total passing and 144 rushing yards against the Broncos' mere 167 total combined offensive yards. The Broncos has a single touchdown and a single field goal, two interceptions, and three fumbles. Just flat out ugly.
While there have been many other blowouts in the Super Bowl Era of the NFL, I would be wrong to leave out this particular ass-wiping in such a list as this.
1. The Butt Fumble
My personal favorite, a classic, infamous, and incredible misfortunate series of events, epitomizing the New York Jets' caliber of play for the past decade (especially against the New England Patriots). On Thanksgiving Day 2012, we had a lot to be thankful for: most importantly, Mark Sanchez's face slamming into Brandon Moore's backside, resulting in a fumble, recovered by Steve Gregory, and taken into the big house for a touchdown. I think he was supposed to hand it off to fullback Lex Hilliard, but the play went south quickly when he turned the wrong way, and Mark Sanchez was forced to try and save the play all by himself, which you don't really want if you're the Jets, or any team really.
The Patriots butted out the Jets easily, 49-19, but the single play itself earned an even more impressive victory: a 40 straight week win streak of SportsCenter's "Worst of the Worst" as the worst and most embarrassing blooper in sports. This is probably the best thing Mark Sanchez is ever going to do in his NFL career, butt to be fair, it's pretty freaking iconic.
