Monday

Party on, Minnesota

At the Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast Monday morning at the Minneapolis Armory, actor and keynote speaker David Oyelowo, who portrayed King in the movie "Selma," said he would be remiss to begin speaking without noting what had happened the previous night. He held up his hands, sporting giant mittens in Vikings purple, emblazoned with the words "Bold North."

The crowd went wild.

Touchdown towels were waved at the annual MLK celebration at the Ordway.

"I woke up this morning definitely thinking it must've been a dream. I checked on Twitter and realized, 'Oh, that's real life — we're good to go.' " — fullback C.J. Ham, a Duluth native.

The front page headline in the Times-Picayune of New Orleans was three giant words long, one word on each of the three lines, in thick black type:

"Expletive. Expletive. Expletive."

The New Orleans Advocate was shorter: "DAT HURTS"

Drew Pearson (yes, that Drew Pearson) shared his thoughts with ESPN: "The next thing I know, [Diggs] is taking off down the sideline, and I'm kind of imagining that this is the way Cowboys fans felt back in the day; that this game is over and the next thing you know, you make a play and everybody's going crazy, pandemonium. It becomes a moment you never forget."

(Yeah, never forget … Minnesota can relate, Drew.)

Diggs, by the way, was asked about Pearson. "1975? I was still swimming then."

"Honestly, that game took a lot out of me, so I was ready to go just lay down and not move and hang out with the family. That's what I did. Didn't get a whole lot of sleep, but just kind of laid in bed and thought about the game and all that." — Receiver Adam Thielen, a Detroit Lakes native.

The Star Tribune's Michael Rand wrote that this was the greatest Vikings game in franchise's 57-year history. Agree? Disagree? Head for your keyboard and let him know.

"They break your heart every time" is what Rebecca Lobo texted her husband, Steve Rushin, as the Saints kicked their final field goal, the Minnesota author wrote in a Sports Illustrated piece published Monday. His kicker to his story: "Most of the time they break your heart. But not every time. Not every time."

Brendan Koop of Ham Lake tweeted a photo of his left leg and wrote, "I literally tore my left Achilles' tendon celebrating the final Vikings play. At orthopedic urgent care now."

He continued, "It felt like a huge weight landed on the back of my leg and I looked around trying to see who or what fell on me, but nothing was there. Then I kept yelling asking whether he stepped out of bounds or whether there were any flags. Then the cold sweat came … it's all a blur."

Get well, Brendan, and try to stay seated this Sunday.

How many times had Thielen seen the replay by midday? "Hundreds. People tweeting at you and Instagram and Facebook, you see people's posts. ... I have a feeling we're going to be seeing that play for a long time."