The more relaxed atmosphere of NFL preseason means that players and coaches sometimes agree to be mic’d up and do interviews live during the games. There can be consequences, however, when those interviews are aired live.
Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell was doing one such interview on Saturday, talking to the team’s broadcasters during the team’s preseason game against the New England Patriots at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Mn. O’Connell hyped up his play call, but that excitement quickly turned to frustration when the Vikings committed a pre-snap penalty.
“Excited about this play call, fellas,” O’Connell said. “It’s a fast-motion — oh, no. F–k.”
"I'm excited about this year's team and excited about this play-call, fellas. We've got a fast-motion… ohhh no, f*ck…" – Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell mic'd up 🤷 pic.twitter.com/60C5N2mS27
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 16, 2025
The Vikings were flagged for illegal formation, which likely made it doubly frustrating for O’Connell. He was hoping to run what was clearly meant to be a creative play, but the offense failed to correctly execute the pre-snap motion that he was so excited about.
O’Connell obviously is not used to being live on the air during a game. That was a natural reaction to the penalty, and such are the risks of putting a coach on live television during a game. It certainly is not uncommon language for an NFL sideline in any context.
