Arguably the gutsiest call in the near 60-year history of the Super Bowl came in Super Bowl LXIV, when the New Orleans Saints started the second half with a surprise onside kick, effectively stealing a possession from Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.
Jonathan Vilma, a Pro Bowl linebacker on that Saints team, was not expecting coach Sean Payton to call that play. Vilma made that clear in no uncertain terms as he was calling Sunday’s Week 10 game between the Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers.
Trailing by 10, the Titans lined up for an onside kick. As they were doing that Vilma lamented that, while he understands the current rules in place, surprise onside kicks are no longer allowed. When play-by-play man Kenny Albert brought New Orleans’ famed surprise onside kick, Vilma responded, “We wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
“When did you guys find out? Right at halftime? Or did you know beforehand that it might happen?” Albert asked Vilma.
“Yeah, right at halftime,” Vilma replied. “And the best thing about it, Sean Payton had practiced it for two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. So he comes in, he goes into our defensive side he tells us we’re gonna run this onside kick. We all look at each other like, ‘Yeah, finally. We’ve been practicing it for two weeks.'”
Vilma then got one more thought in on the play.
“We thought Sean was gonna be a little pansy and not run it and he did.”
Jonathan Vilma remembers when his New Orleans Saints executed a surprise onside kick at the beginning of the second half in Super Bowl XLIV. pic.twitter.com/J1mhP7BluY
— The Comeback NFL (@TheComebackNFL) November 11, 2024
Fortunately for Vilma, he was wrong. Better for the Saints, the onside kick worked like a charm.
The @Saints opening up the second half of Super Bowl XLIV with an onside kick was one of the gutsiest calls of all time
📹: @NFL pic.twitter.com/UwzeAZ8eTv
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) August 5, 2022
After the onside kick, New Orleans moved quickly down the field and scored their first touchdown to take their first lead. The Colts regained the lead later in the quarter but the Saints scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to come away with the 31-17 win.
Would that have happened without the onside kick? We’ll never now. Fortunately for Vilma, the Saints and their fans, it doesn’t matter. The Colts and their fans, on the other hand, probably do wish that Payton was more of a pansy.
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