Dan Connolly Inspires Nation With Fat-Guy Scamper in Patriots-Packers Game

Three cheers for the fat guy.

Dan Connolly is a big man, but before Sunday night, he was a little-known NFL player. That changed in a hurry — well, sort of.

The longtime practice squad member got his chance to shine on national television Sunday night, and he made the most of it with a 71-yard kickoff return. The Packers, hoping to carry a 10-point lead into halftime, kicked short. They figured there was no way that the 313-pounder was going to burn them.

Boy did he ever.

It may have taken a little longer than your standard 71-yard kick return (unofficially, about 13 seconds), but it was as big a reason as any that the Pats walked away victorious.

Photo of the day

Is this the greatest athletic feat by a 300-pounder? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Quote of the day

“Somebody told me that coach [Tom] Coughlin ran on the field and tried to get his kicker because he was just so pissed that his kicker punted the ball to me. That just shows how mad he was at that punter.”
—DeSean Jackson, after sucking the soul out of the Giants with a 65-yard punt return to win the game for the Eagles

Comment of the day

This guy might have a point.

“The NFL takes longer to investigate ANYTHING then the FBI does in National security matters. Especially when they don’t want to find anything wrong (hello Brett).”
–Ken H.

Video of the day

It was a rather emotional week for this group of high schoolers, winning one game on a long-distance buzzer-beater and losing another on the same play.