Bills: NFL finds the perfect way to cap off historic week
"This is storybook!" That's what Jim Nantz yelled into the microphone as Buffalo Bills running back Nyheim Hines took the opening kickoff to the house for a 96-yard touchdown. It was the first game action the Bills had following an unfinished Monday Night Football Game versus the Cincinnati Bengals. Bills fans at Highmark Stadium were […]
"This is storybook!"
That's what Jim Nantz yelled into the microphone as Buffalo Bills running back Nyheim Hines took the opening kickoff to the house for a 96-yard touchdown. It was the first game action the Bills had following an unfinished Monday Night Football Game versus the Cincinnati Bengals.
Bills fans at Highmark Stadium were going nuts. Fans watching on TV either got goosebumps or teared up. You couldn't ask for a more emotional moment for the Bills.
In the booth, Tony Romo made an announcing mistake out of pure raw emotion. In TV sportscasting, there's a rule that silence is king. I'm speculating here but I would bet Nantz would've preferred to allow the crowd noise to carry the epic moment after finishing his call.
But Romo had to speak out of emotion. I can't blame him. It was absolutely epic.
The excitement in the stadium didn't even come from a "we're up by 7!" place but from a different place.
The NFL and the Bills went through one of the most difficult weeks in league history as Damar Hamlin recovered in the hospital. Hamlin has since been discharged from the hospital and is at home. Because of that, it's easy to forget what our feelings were at the time. We didn't even know if the game was going to be played on Sunday.
Hines followed things up with ANOTHER touchdown return, this time for 101 yards. The Bills running back became the first player since Leon Washington with two kickoff-return touchdowns in the same game, per NFL Communications.
He also stands alone in NFL history as the only player to have a game with two kickoff-return touchdowns and a game with two punt-return touchdowns.
To close things out, the NFL made Nyheim Hines the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award. The league got it right.
What a way to cap off one of the most intense weeks in league history.
Featured image via JAMIE GERMANO/ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE / USA TODAY NETWORK
