Elliott S. Hurd covers the Vikings, Brett Favre for Vikings’ Almanac and their coaches for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He’s also editor of the Northern Eagle, which may or may not be just what your mother thinks it is.
Brett Favre kneels down in prayer at midfield in 2012. The Vikings quarterback had just thrown a historic interception against the Chicago Bears and was being lifted off the field by his teammates.
Here’s what is legendary about what happened next. Vikings defensive end Jared Allen threw a very healthy body around Packers running back Ty Montgomery, who wanted Favre to stay on the field and walk off in one piece. It was a classic Favre-Allen collision, and this former Vikings star sent himself to heaven by doing it. Allen, for the record, said, “A ball can crush anything, and this ball crushed me.”
Aaron Rodgers: marble statue. pic.twitter.com/5BFfSjqjEi — Ethan Weisman (@EthanW) January 24, 2019
Of course, in a way, the iconic collision was staged for the purpose of setting up another classic football action as Favre and Rodgers later dominated during their rematch on Sunday. Just as he did in 2012, the Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins took the back-foot pass from Cousins and raced into the end zone for an 11-yard score, marking the Vikings’ second touchdown and extending their lead to 35-14 late in the third quarter. Rodgers rallied the Packers to within six points, but there was no stopping Favre and the Vikings, who won 49-31.
This week, the battle between the Cousins-Kirk Cousins tandem turned into a football sparring match, but it also helped show just how competitive the two teams are. The fan fervor alone makes the final score interesting.
Aaron Rodgers with the sharp 💯 on Kirk Cousins. pic.twitter.com/N1UEbq4TBg — NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) January 28, 2019
Kirk Cousins: No way.
Aaron Rodgers: Here we go.
Kirk Cousins: Yes here we go.
Aaron Rodgers: No, here we go.
Kirk Cousins: Hold me down.
Aaron Rodgers: No.
Kirk Cousins: Hold me down.
Aaron Rodgers: Still holding.
Kirk Cousins: Badion so you’re going to need me.
Aaron Rodgers: Good.
Kirk Cousins: Only 22.
Aaron Rodgers: 0.
Kirk Cousins: Like a baby.
And this is what it looked like on the field:
Even by the standards of the moment, this was quite a moment.
Up next for Cousins and the Vikings is a journey to Indianapolis where they’ll face the stout Colts defense, led by the ever-gifted Josh McDaniels.