Lightning struck in the same place a second time for the Jefferson family this week.
Los Angeles Rams receiver Van Jefferson was the hero (along with new teammate Baker Mayfield) during Thursday’s come-from-behind victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Jefferson hauled in a 23-yard touchdown grab from Mayfield in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, beating Raiders cornerback Sam Webb one-on-one. The catch ultimately sealed an unlikely 17-16 win for the Rams, who had trailed 16-3 less than four minutes earlier.
Baker Mayfield 🎯 Van Jefferson 🙌
RAMS TAKE THE LEAD WITH 9 SECONDS TO GO!pic.twitter.com/28gRHbmTL8
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 9, 2022
But there was something even cooler about Jefferson’s grab. It turns out it was ridiculously similar to a game-winning touchdown catch that Jefferson’s father Shawn once had for the New England Patriots in the ’90s. Against the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 23, 1998, Shawn, who also played as a receiver, caught a 25-yard strike from quarterback Drew Bledsoe in the final 30 seconds to give New England the come-from-behind 26-23 win.
Twitter page “Boston Sports Throwback” shared the two game-winning catches side-by-side.
Like father, like son: Van Jefferson and his dad Shawn Jefferson with eerily similar prime time winning touchdowns with less than 30 seconds in the 4th quarter #nfl @VanJefferson12 pic.twitter.com/0SLN2EdWWL
— Boston Sports Throwback (@BOSthrowback) December 9, 2022
If you listen carefully, you might notice another similarity. Since the 1998 game was a “Monday Night Football” affair, veteran announcer Al Michaels, working for ABC at the time, was on the call. Michaels later went to NBC but now works for Amazon Prime … meaning that he was also on the call for the game-winning grab on Thursday night.
The Rams have endured a tough season this year, sitting at 4-9 even with the victory. But Jefferson probably doesn’t have any complaints, especially since he also had another cool family moment when the Rams won Super Bowl LVI last season.
