What’s it like to be the most famous man in the DMV right now, the one who caught the Hail Mary that gave the Commanders their first post-merger walk-off win on Sunday in front of a raucous home crowd?
“I had too many (messages) to count; my phone was kind of malfunctioning when I got back to it,” Noah Brown laughed when asked that by Grant & Danny Tuesday. “It’s been crazy, but it’s been a blessing and I'm glad we were able to get the W.”
Terry McLaurin made a catch to get the Commanders in position, and without a huddle, Brown told the guys just how the final two plays developed.
“The play before the Hail Mary, we were already lined up in Hail Mary formation, and Jayden told me and Terry to run out routes to try and steal a couple of yards,” Brown said. “We did that and then got right back on the ball and he just called regular Hail Mary, which isn't too different for us because most of our offense is no-huddle. So, that's how the communication is.”
The Commanders have multiple Hail Mary variations, mostly in how the receivers end up set up at the end – this one was the diamond formation type, where the ball was tipped to Brown, although as he laughed, “we’re definitely prepared for more than one option, but you hope you’re not in a situation where you need to use multiple throughout the season.”
Brown did not notice that Tyrique Stevenson was jawing at the crowd, as he just had his head down sprinting for the end zone, but he’s glad that Jayden Daniels was able to buy so much time to get the guys into position before launching the winning pass.
“I had no vision of what was in front of me until I got to about like the 10 or 15, and I looked up and tried to get in position, but by that time I think he was playing the play, so I didn't notice,” Brown said. “When you think about a Hail Mary play or how you install it, the normal timing of it, the ball is probably on the way already by the time you get to the end zone. So it was definitely a little bit off-schedule, but that’s the kind of quarterback we have, that can extend plays like that and give us a shot at winning the game, and it paid off.”
Indeed it did, as the boxers boxed out, Zach Ertz appeared to tip it, and Brown caught it, setting off a frenzy inside Northwest Stadium – even as he himself seemed nonchalant about it all.
“It was just a blur of a moment, really; I don’t even think it really fully registered what just happened until Terry jumped on me. It was kind of a surreal moment,” Brown said. “That's the type of thing you dream about as a kid, to be a part of a moment like that. It's definitely a blessing that I was able to be a part of it, and it’s a feeling that I’ll never forget, being in that stadium and pulling out a tough win with my brothers, and being able to celebrate that.”
Take a listen to Brown’s entire visit with Grant & Danny, as he also talks about the Commanders’ strong culture, comparisons between his 2023 Texans and this year’s Commanders, and more!