Was at my niece's 18th birthday party with lots of family and a bunch of her friends. I'm in Miami so I'm the lone Vikings fan now that my son is away in college. He's only 20 but feels Viking tradition like he's 57 (my age). When Keenum threw the interception, he texted that he already knew the outcome of this game. I was trying to stay positive.
Curiously, I was most negative after we took the 23-21 lead. Just left too much time for Brees. People are texting me that we are going to win and what a kick and blah blah blah. And all I can say is, "too much time." By now there's 40 or 50 people around the tv watching the end of the game.
And I could not believe how soft Mac was covering on the last drive. And I could not believe Brees kept going at Rhodes. But I knew he wouldn't go to Rhodes on 4th down. Then Luts hits the FG and someone asks if the game is over now. Not yet.
With 25 seconds I thought we still had a prayer. With 10 seconds, not so much. I still had to say a few words for my niece's birthday and I had a lot of people around so I could not just lose my shit. I'm smoking my cigar - we were watching the game outdoors - being pretty stoic but feeling my head swimming with the thought of another loss. Not even so much for me as for my son. I have long felt that Viking fandom is not for the young.
Then Diggs caught the ball and I'm yelling "Get outta bounds"!! And the safety falls over and takes out the other DB as Diggs stumbles. And there's nobody in front of him or behind him. And everyone starts jumping and screaming like they are all Vikings fans. The place was going crazy. My wife, who can't watch the end of games comes out to see what's happening. My phone is blowing up.
I took one call from a number I did not recognize. My wife was now at my side and wants to know if I am talking to our son. But it was so loud i couldn't really hear. All I could make out was "Did you see that? Holy shit, did you see that? I can't believe it. The Vikings won. Did you see that?" I was just laughing, not saying anything.
The rest was a blur. Fast forward to this morning. I texted my son, "Did we talk after the game yesterday?" He said he thinks so, but he was drinking and used a friend's phone to call me. But has a vague recollection of talking to me last night.
What a game!
