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Justin Jefferson’s All-Time Catch Wasn’t His Only Memorable Moment Sunday

Also in Traina Thoughts: One improvement Greg Olsen needs to make; JJ Watt helps a bettor; good for Jeff Saturday and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. Everyone knows by now that Vikings standout receiver Justin Jefferson made one of, if not the greatest catch in NFL history Sunday on a fourth-and-18 play late in the fourth quarter in Minnesota’s surreal win over Buffalo.

While Jefferson’s catch deserves all the coverage it gets, we cannot sleep on an equally great moment he gave us earlier in the game.

After catching a touchdown in the first quarter, Jefferson pretended to pull his hamstring while going into his celebratory dance.

Fox’s play-by-play man Joe Davis took the bait.

“Jefferson, two big catches on the drive and did he just hurt himself on the celebration? He grabbed that hamstring. He looked like he was just messing around, my goodness.”

Fox then went to commercial and when the game returned, Davis asked, “Is this some kind of sick joke or something?” as a replay aired.

Davis’s partner Daryl Johnston then added, “If you’re a Vikings fan, this is by far the worst touchdown celebration you’d have ever seen.”

If you weren’t a Vikings fan, it was one of the best. I loved the broadcasters' momentary confusion.

But it’s also worth noting this was not the first time we’ve seen the fake injury celebration.

The Kansas City Current’s Lo’eau LaBonta pulled it off in August and did so more successfully than Jefferson, who had his prank ruined by teammates when they jumped all over him.

That was perfectly done.

I don’t want more fake injury celebrations. I NEED more fake injury celebrations. 

2. Greg Olsen is in his first year as a lead analyst for Fox as he keeps the seat warm for Tom Brady. Olsen does a really nice job breaking down X’s and O’s, but if there’s one area we’d like to see him improve, it’s taking the refs to task. This problem isn’t exclusive to Olsen, because it seems the only analyst not afraid to call out the refs is ESPN’s Troy Aikman. In Sunday’s Packers overtime win against the Cowboys, Olsen praised the refs for making a terrible holding call on Dallas and then barely had anything to say after the refs didn’t call an obvious pass interference on Green Bay. When a game is literally determined by the refs, we need the analyst to point that out.

3. It appears that JJ Watt is now working as a FanDuel customer service representative.

4. Tom Brady retweeting his embarrassing play is a solid move by Tom Brady.

5. It was beautiful to see new Colts head coach Jeff Saturday get a win Sunday after the ridiculously over-the-top reaction to his hiring.

6. The latest SI Media Podcast features a conversation with The Ringer’s Kevin Clark.

Clark weighs in on the Colts’ hiring Jeff Saturday as interim coach and whether the angry reaction from across the board was over the top. Clark also shares his thoughts on Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football telecast, the problem with NFL pregame shows, what’s going on with Aaron Rodgers right now, whether the NFL should push back the trade deadline, why he feels passionate about hot chocolate and much more.

Following Clark, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins Jimmy for their weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, the guys talk about the anarchy on Twitter thanks to the new verification system, read recent SI Media Podcast reviews and more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Here is an excellent remix of Bill O’Reilly’s famous, “WE’LL DO IT LIVE” meltdown.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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