Just two weeks into 2018, Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs delivered what seemed like it would stand as the signature moment in Minnesota sports for the entire calendar year — if not more — when his leaping catch and run walkoff TD against the Saints rescued the Vikings from a playoff collapse.
Barely a month later, Diggs has been equaled — and perhaps topped — by another Minnesota athlete, Jessie Diggins, and her exhilarating cross country skiing gold medal.
Their two accomplishments appear to have nothing more in common than that loose connection of "Minnesota sports," but let's take a closer look to find some interesting similarities.
*First, obviously, the names: Yeah, I'll admit this is where the whole weird idea started. You can't spell Diggins without Diggs. Both start with the same first four letters. The pun headlines are not only endless, they're the same. Can you Digg it?
*OK, but check out the numbers: Honestly, I didn't even notice this — quite possibly because I have trouble paying attention to details and am maybe not that bright sometimes — until a reader responded to my tweeted picture of Diggs and Diggins side-by-side.
Diggs wears No. 14 for the Vikings, a number he got to pick. It's kind of an unusual number for a wide receiver, since most of them wear 80-89, but receivers are also allowed to wear 10-19. Only four other players in Vikings history have worn No. 14 — quarterbacks George Shaw, Brad Johnson and Joe Webb, along with kicker Fred Cox. Diggs is the first receiver to wear that number.
Diggins, coincidentally, was also wearing No. 14 on her bib during Wednesday's race in Pyeongchang. Maybe it's lucky?
Overcoming history: Diggs made believers out of Vikings fans who had witnessed countless playoff losses over the years — many in excruciating fashion. "It's a storybook ending, and it never ends that way," Diggs said in the immediate aftermath of the catch.
