Chiefs fan details catching Tua Tagovailoa’s pass while sitting in the stands
The Chiefs were firmly in control of their AFC Wild Card game late in the fourth quarter on Saturday, so fans couldn’t be blamed for wanting to leave before the clock hit zero.
That thought popped into the head of a man sitting behind the Chiefs sideline. Sean, a season-ticket holder from Nashville who asked that his last name not be divulged, canvassed his buddies about whether they should hit the road.
The temperature at kickoff was minus-4 with a windchill of minus-27, and it had only gotten colder, so the allure of anywhere with heat was strong.
“They were freezing-toed and everything else and I wasn’t doing so hot myself,” Sean admitted in a phone interview from his home. “I mean, we were frigid at that point, but we decided to stick it out and stay to the end.”
It proved to be a great decision.
With less than 4 minutes left in regulation, Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was desperate to escape Chiefs defenders Mike Edwards and George Karlaftis. Tagovailoa avoided the sack by throwing the ball way.
Tagovailoa put some extra mustard on the ball and it ended up in the stands.
That Tagovailoa pass technically was an incompletion, but Sean caught it and drew a laugh from NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico and Jason Garrett.
“This pass goes up,” Sean recalled Monday, “and I’m telling you it looks like it was gonna land 5 feet in front of us, beyond my reach. And I have been looking up all morning physics explanations for what happened. The Magnus effect is the closest thing I can find but everyone says that’s not applicable in football. So maybe it was just magic.
“But it carried somehow an extra 5 feet and I was just already over the rail ready for it. The magic 88 jersey, the energy of Tony Gonzalez flowed through me and I was able to hold on to it.”
Sean said he used good form to make the catch in traffic.
“It was a two-armed grab and it was definitely to the chest immediately,” Sean recalled. “He threw it a long way. It was moving when it got to me, but I was padded enough that I didn’t even feel the actual impact. I just had to make sure I didn’t let go.”
Sean said he was congratulated by other fans after making the catch, which was immortalized by radio broadcaster Kevin Harlan.
Movin’ on up
Sean said his usual season tickets are in the upper deck, but as prices on the secondary market kept plummeting last week, he sprang for seats in the front row.
“I’ve never been anywhere near the bench like that. So in a playoff game it was well worth it, especially getting the ball,” he said. “I didn’t anticipate that being part of the ticket price but definitely well worth it in retrospect.
“I started back through all of the broadcasts I’ve seen. I’ve seen people catch balls that were kicked. But I mean, maybe out of the back corner of the end zone somebody’s caught a ball that was thrown away. But I can’t think of somebody catching one on the sideline that I’ve witnessed in my life. So I was definitely not prepared for that.”
Closer look at the ball
While on offense, each team uses its own set of footballs during a game. That’s why Sean’s keepsake has the Dolphins logo.
Sean hopes to get the ball autographed by Karlaftis and Edwards since it was their pressure that forced Tagovailoa to throw in the stands.
Even if that doesn’t happen, this football will be going in a special case. And Sean is thrilled that he decided to stick it out to the end at Arrowhead.
“It would have been a throwaway that I never even saw, so I probably wouldn’t have even known that I missed the chance,” he said. “So I’m very glad we stayed.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2024 at 10:59 AM.
