Just when you think it's safe to tweet, the NFL in 2022 throws you another surprise.
The scene: I'm helping to get our kids ready for bed after a late night at Disney On Ice, when I see the Rams are trailing 16-3 in the fourth quarter of a game in which Baker Mayfield — who joined the team just a few days ago — has been playing virtually the whole time.
My mind immediately goes to Josh Freeman, who was rushed into a 2013 start by the desperate Vikings under similar circumstances (a game that I barely need any prompting to remember, let alone write about).
I fired off a tweet.
I resumed the bed-time routine with the kids, only re-opening Twitter an hour later to find find out that Mayfield did what now?
Rallied the Rams from that deficit with a 17-play touchdown drive followed by a 98-yard touchdown drive in the closing seconds of a 17-16 victory. Of course Mayfield did his best Tom Brady impression, as I talked about on Friday's Daily Delivery podcast.
"I don't know if you can write it any better than that," Mayfield said after the game. "Obviously we'd like to be a little bit more stress free, but it's a pretty damn good story, I'll be honest with you."
It's the sort of debut the Vikings were hoping for nine years ago when they signed Freeman and rushed him into a Monday Night game just days later. The Vikings were 1-4 at the time, crashing to the turf after a surprising playoff season in 2012. Their other options that year were Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel.
