ESPN's Chris Berman stepped aside from his role on NFL Countdown this year, but he'll be back for special episodes of NFL Primetime after Sunday's conference title games and after the Super Bowl in Minnepaolis two weeks later.
In advance of that, I chatted with Berman on a number of subjects. Here are Berman's thoughts on Stefon Diggs' 61-yard touchdown that gave the Vikings a 29-24 victory last Sunday against the Saints:
"Of course we're all watching the same thing. I wondered if they were going to able to get a play to get out of bounds to try a long field goal. They can't go to the middle of the field. When the ball was up and just before it was caught, I said to myself he could catch that and get out of bounds. They actually could pull that play off. Look where it was," Berman said. "And then for the end of it, 'you mean nobody is going to knock him out at the 10?' Then 10 minutes later, I figured someone would ask what I would call it. The Minnesota Miracle is a layup. But it was unbelievable. … The ball was perfect, the route was perfect. It shows, as (ESPN colleague) Tommy Jackson (pictured with Berman above) texted me later, that's why you play to the last whistle. … Bigger picture, outside of Minnesota and the Vikings: That's why we love football. I heard from everybody, whether they root for anybody, that's why they love football. After the year the NFL had, to have this in January, this is great."
Berman added, "I wish we were doing last week's show," so he would have had a chance to talk about that game.