The Butt Fumble is an iconic moment in modern NFL history. It’s an unforgettable image that perfectly captured the general ineptitude of those Jets teams and Mark Sanchez, in particular.
Where the Butt Fumble was the manifestation of incompetence, the Saints and Marshon Lattimore have introduced us to the Butt Pick, which is a marvel of physics and an extremely good player getting rewarded for being a good player by the football gods.
A Matt Ryan pass bounced off the hands of Falcons receiver Justin Hardy, being covered by Lattimore who was trailing on the slant. Lattimore dove to the turf and as the ball fell to the ground, it serendipitously bounced directly off of his butt and, somehow, stayed there until he could pin it and then bring it in for the clean interception. The video of the play is nothing short of stunning.
Forget the butt fumble, we’ve got a butt pick.#SaintsGameday | #ATLvsNO https://t.co/LRt5eykuMU
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) December 24, 2017
Let’s take a look at again that from the rear (get it?) angle.
First there was the #ButtCatch.
Now, there's the #ButtInterception.
WHAT'S NEXT!? 😱 https://t.co/GKRWyRGfKp
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) December 24, 2017
It’s a borderline miracle that Lattimore was able to somehow haul it in as the ball balanced on top of his butt for a solid second before he could grab it. Having never touched the ground, it was indeed a turnover and, unfortunately for Matt Ryan, counts against him as an interception even though it has very little to do with a mistake he made.