Apparently, Jets offensive lineman Conor McDermott had been bugging tight ends coach and interim head coach Ron Middleton all week in practice about running a play the Jets call "Wally Cross" – the one where he scored his first NFL touchdown on a fourth-and-goal play from the one yard line in the fourth quarter of the Jets’ 26-21 win over Jacksonville.
“It’s kind of funny; it was an easy release and I realized running the route that no one was on me, so Zach and I made eye contact and I was like, ‘throw it!’” McDermott said. “It was exciting. I was like, ‘I’m catching this.’ I saw him scrambling, so I started waving; we made eye contact, he threw the ball and I grabbed it. My old tight end skills from high school came out!”
McDermott, listed at 310 pounds, thinks his last touchdown came in middle school or high school, when he played tight end at “a skinny 230 pounds,” but he got this one on a play that, actually, wasn’t drawn up specifically for him.
“It’s been in the game plan for weeks, and (offensive lineman Dan) Feeney has been that person who was in that position; he’d been begging, and this was the first week McDermott was the guy,” Middleton smiled. “He’s been saying all along he’s an ex-tight end, and he’d bug me about what kind of release he should do, and I’d say ‘get away from me, you aren’t getting the ball!”
“It was Feeney’s play the whole time, this week I took over for him, and after the game we just both started laughing,” McDermott said. “I said I was sorry but he was so excited, so it was all good.”
According to the acting coach, the Jets twice successfully ran the play in practice this week, so make it three for three for Gang Green.
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“Zach got him the ball both times, and he looked natural getting the ball,” Middleton said. “He made a hell of a catch today, I was so happy for him.”
“They told me to run four to six yards up, then break right and I’m going over the top,” McDermott said. “It came into real life, and it was great.”
Three for three on a play that’s not only not for McDermott in general…but also a play he’s not even actually part of in theory.
“We put the play in, and the o-line gives me crap for never throwing it to them, but my read goes to the flat to the right, and then you see me look back to the left for the other guys. I threw it to Derm in practice twice just joking around, and it’s not even part of the read,” Wilson said. “But today, I went through my reads and pressure comes, I escape and I see this big dude in the end zone with his hands in the air and no one around him. I was like, ‘is this happening?’ This is what we’d talked about, but he made an awesome catch, and that’s probably one of my funnest moments ever to hit that one.”
Wilson even joked it was the “highlight of my entire life so far,” but McDermott was just happy he was able to contribute as the stars aligned.
“Listen, I’m honored, but he’s going to make a lot more plays that are better than that one,” McDermott said. “I was just excited to help the team. It was a great play he made, and I just made the catch.”
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