The rules require a PAT after a touchdown unless it’s overtime
The need for the New Orleans Saints to return to the field for the end-of-game extra-point attempt Sunday has actually proven to be fruitful thanks to Thomas Morstead and some charitable Minnesota Vikings fans.
But, in the moment, it was upsetting for some Saints to have to leave the locker room and go back to the field where they’d just witnessed Stefon Diggs’ miraculous game-winning touchdown that sent the Vikings to the NFC Championship.
After Diggs scored, many players and coaches went to midfield for postgame handshakes, but the Saints retreated to their locker room while the Vikings stayed on the field and reveled in victory.
NFL rules, though, require teams to try an extra point or two-point conversion attempt after all touchdowns in regulation, so officials had to retrieve Saints players from the locker room.
“I knew that as a rule, so I hung out (on the field) waiting and it seemed like nothing was getting cleared,” Morstead said Tuesday. “And I was like, I wonder if this is even going to happen. At some point, everyone was gone, so I just went in the locker room.”
The side judge went to the locker room and told the Saints of the need to return for an extra point. Morstead said fullback John Kuhn, who is on injured reserve, asked him and some other players to head back.
“I didn’t see a lot of movement from too many people, so I just kind of said, ‘All right, I’ll go,'” Morstead said. “So, I just jogged out there. It was tough.”
Morstead was the first player to return to the field, and his sportsmanship is a primary reason Vikings fans have donated more than $167,000 to Morstead’s foundation, What You Give Will Grow. Morstead plans to return to Minneapolis during the week of the Super Bowl and donate the funds to Children’s Hospital of Minnesota.
Seven other Saints ran onto the field after Morstead — guard Larry Warford, defensive end Cameron Jordan, wide receiver Austin Carr, linebackers Manti Te’o and Gerald Hodges and offensive linemen Josh LeRibeus and John Fullington.
On the play, the Saints had just eight men on the field, but the referees were clearly content to just have the play happen regardless as Vikings quarterback Case Keenum kneeled instead of trying to add to the lead. Officials also failed to mark off the 15-yard penalty on Diggs for throwing his helmet after the touchdown.
“It was just weird,” Warford said of running back for the PAT. “I was just trying to get the game finished with and not cause too much of a stir. They earned their win, and you got to respect it.”
Saints coach Sean Payton said the officials “struggled” in Sunday’s game, and he wished the referees had corralled players earlier in that moment.
“The only thing I’d say is, don’t let the team going into the locker room,” Payton said.
Morstead knows Keenum, and as the punter jogged into place, Keenum told him the plan was for the Vikings to take a knee.
“I was like, ‘You’d better because I’m lining up across from your big linemen,'” Morstead said. “Then to be out there and (while) they’re waiting for everything to be sorted, they started the whole ‘Skol’ chant.
“It was something I’ll never forget. It was tough.”
