The Saints' Samson Nacua had a 106-yard FG return that almost was a TD. The Saints’ Samson Nacua had a 106-yard FG return that almost was a TD. (The Comeback on X/Twitter.)
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One of the zaniest NFL plays in a long time took place at the end of the first half of the New Orleans Saints’ home preseason clash against the Tennessee Titans Sunday. There, Brayden Narveson tried a 58-yard field goal, but it fell just short of the goalposts. But the Saints’ Samson Nacua caught it, brought it out, and went all the way to the opposing end zone…except it was ruled that he was out at the Titans’ three-yard line following a hit from the Rams’ Thomas Odukoya, which was even more unfortunate with this being the last play of the half. That led to quite the call:

Here’s a replay of that:

The play drew a ton of comment. Here are a few of the reactions to it:

Incroyable indeed. As Tom Gower noted, this would have been the longest non-scoring play ever during a NFL regular-season game if it had come during one:

There have been quite a few at 104 yards, though, as Katherine Terrell noted:

And this led to a lot of Twitter/X reaction, including from some who saw this as something emblematic of the Saints:

The 26-year-old Nacua played wide receiver for Utah for five seasons from 2016-20, then finished his college career playing for BYU in 2021. The Indianapolis Colts signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2022, but he didn’t make it out of camp. But he played for the USFL’s Pittsburgh Maulers in 2023 and the UFL’s Michigan Panthers this year, then signed with the Saints earlier this month. He is the older brother of Los Angeles Rams’ receiver Puka Nacua, who he played with at BYU in 2021. We’ll see if he makes the Saints’ final roster, but he certainly provided one of the top highlights of their preseason.

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.

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