Demerio Houston of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers makes a wild interception in a July 15, 2022 game.

Football often produces “No, no, no, no, YES!” moments, where a play looks to be going horribly wrong before it suddenly takes a turn. The Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers provided one of these Friday night with one of the strangest interceptions you’ll ever see.

The 5-0 Blue Bombers (the back-to-back defending Grey Cup champions) were hosting the 4-0 Calgary Stampeders, and like many CFL games, their contest came down to the wire. Calgary trailed 26-19 in the final minutes, but  a strong defensive stand led to a punt, and to them getting the ball back at the Winnipeg 53. The Bombers’ Willie Jefferson then sacked Stampeders’ quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell on first down, and the defence forced an incomplete pass on second down, but a pass to running back Ka’Deem Carey at the line of scrimmage on third and 13 turned into a first down, amplified by a roughing the passer penalty. That gave Calgary a first and 10 on the Winnipeg 29, and then, this happened:

That’s a great throw by Mitchell, right into a window in the end zone where only his receiver Kamar Jorden can grab it. It looked like a sure touchdown, one that would allow the Stampeders to tie the game with a convert or take the lead with a two-point conversion.

But Jorden couldn’t hang on as he hit the ground, and Winnipeg defensive back Demerio Houston never gave up on the play. Even though Houston wasn’t the defender initially on Jorden, he kept charging in to help, and that put him in perfect position to make an amazing diving interception. And that interception was crucial; if the ball had just fallen incomplete, Calgary would have had more chances to tie or win the game, but the turnover gave the Bombers the ball back and let them run out the clock for their sixth win of the season. And it’s surely one of the craziest CFL highlights we’ll see all year.

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About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.