PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — A momentous thing happened Sunday as 329-pound nose tackle Linval Joseph caught Carson Wentz’s fumble and ran it 64 yards for his first NFL score.
Here are the accounts of those who witnessed it.
PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER PAUL ALLEN (during the play): “Look at Linval rumble! Thirty, 20, he’s so hungry he’s gonna eat in the end zone!”
LINVAL JOSEPH: “I finally got the opportunity to play with the nickel package on third down, so I was actually fresh. I got in the game, and I saw Stephen [Weatherly] hit the ball, and the ball was in the air. I just tapped it to myself and told myself to run past people.”
STEPHEN WEATHERLY: “The tackle kind of over-set, and I was able to power inside and come down on the quarterback. I wasn’t trying to go for anything special. … I look up and see L.J. is running in the opposite direction.”
CARSON WENTZ: “My eyes are [looking] the other way. If I was looking to the other side of the field I probably would have avoided [Weatherly] and been just fine, but that’s football.”
MIKE ZIMMER: “He’s a heck of an athlete. I don’t know what it was — 60 yards or whatever. He’s a great kid. … Typically when you score on defense, your odds of winning go way up.”
DANIELLE HUNTER: “I saw him moving. I thought somebody’s gonna tackle him. I saw Barr behind him. When I looked around, it was just basically him. Nobody was gonna catch him.”
JOSEPH: “I was watching on the jumbotron. I was running to make sure no one came from behind. I saw Barr had a good block. I saw Kendricks had a block and Stephen [Weatherly]. It was a team effort.”
STEFON DIGGS: “A turnover by the defense is always huge. When it happens, they have to get right back on defense. I was just proud of the big guy running that far. I’ve never seen him run that far and that fast.”
WEATHERLY: “I feel like [the game] was going back and forth for a little bit. I feel like we had already missed a field goal, so it was very close. At that point I felt like we got the momentum and ran with it.”
After the play, Joseph became an internet meme with this shot of him getting oxygen on the sideline.
When you eat the entire Dominos pizza by yourself pic.twitter.com/h36UuKKuJ7
— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) October 7, 2018
KIRK COUSINS: “I love seeing Linval with those sunglasses on the sidelines after scoring that touchdown. Those guys are a lot of fun.”
JOSEPH: “For my book of records, I wanted an interception, and I wanted a touchdown, so I got two today.”
[Editor’s note: Nobody had the heart to tell Joseph that the play was registered as a fumble.]
ADAM THIELEN: “He said after the game that we need to give him more touches on offense. Obviously, it was pretty cool to see him with the ball and for him to score.”
COUSINS: “We’ve got to get him involved in the offense now with the way he ran. He’s light on his feet. We’ll see if we can get him involved in the pass game. I’m always looking for athletes.”
JOSEPH: “I consider myself an athlete, but I feel like everyone got a chance to see that I am faster than what I look.”
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