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ESPN Staff Writer- Michael DiRocco is an NFL reporter at ESPN. DiRocco covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously covered the University of Florida for over a decade for ESPN.com and Florida Times-Union. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is a multiple APSE award winner. You can follow DiRocco on Twitter at @ESPNdirocco.
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ESPN Staff Writer- Rich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets and the NFL at ESPN. Rich has covered the Jets for over 30 years, joining ESPN in 2010. Rich also hosts the Flight Deck podcast. He previously was a beat writer for the New York Daily News and is a graduate of Syracuse University. You can follow him via Twitter @RichCimini.
Offensive lineman touchdowns are rare.
Multiple offensive lineman touchdowns in the same game are ... almost nonexistent.
It happened for the first time during the regular season Sunday, when Jacksonville Jaguars right guard Will Richardson Jr. and New York Jets backup tackle Conor McDermott each scored during the Jets' 26-21 victory at MetLife Stadium.
The Elias Sports Bureau couldn't find another instance in which multiple offensive linemen scored touchdowns in the same game dating back to 1950, which is as far back as Elias can go in its research. However, it did happen in the AFC Championship Game in January 2007, when New England left guard Logan Mankins and Indianapolis center Jeff Saturday each recovered fumbles in the end zone for touchdowns.
McDermott's touchdown was actually on purpose. The Jets ran the play twice in practice this past week and quarterback Zach Wilson threw the ball to McDermott each time, even though he was -- at best -- the fourth read. But McDermott was so wide open on Sunday that Wilson, who was scrambling, had to throw it to him.
"I realized, running the route, there was no one on me and Zach and I made eye contact last second when he pulled up," McDermott said. "I was like, 'Throw it.'
"It was exciting. I was like, 'I'm catching this.' I saw him scrambling and I started waving. Right when he pulled up, we made eye contact, saw the ball and grabbed it. My old tight end skills from high school came out."
It was a pretty good catch, too. McDermott had to go up and get it and hang on while getting hit by safety Andrew Wingard.
"That was probably the highlight of my entire life so far, that touchdown pass," Wilson said. "The funny part is, the offensive line gives me crap for never throwing it to them. My read goes right flat, then you see me look back to the left for the other two guys. I threw it to Derm two times in practice, just joking around, like, 'Hey, that would be funny if he caught it.'
"It's not even part of the read. So I go through 1, 2, 3. Pressure comes up the middle, I escape to the right. I see this big dude with his hands in the air in the back of the end zone with no one around him, and it was like, 'Oh, my gosh, should I throw it to him?' Like, is this happening? This is exactly what we talked about. What happens if I scramble and he's open? The dude made an awesome catch."
Richardson's touchdown was a little more routine. He pounced on the ball in the end zone after quarterback Trevor Lawrence fumbled at the 1-yard line after being hit by cornerback Jason Pinnock. Richardson had to out-fight two Jets defenders for the ball.
He got a pat on the head from Lawrence after the play -- and then Lawrence helped him out a moment later.
"I don't feel great about it when it's because I fumbled, but I told him thanks for saving my butt there," Lawrence said. "Obviously fumbling on the 1-yard line is not what you want to do but I was happy for Will. He was on field goal or the PAT team so I had to take the ball over there to give it to one of our equipment managers to keep it for him.
"It's always cool getting to see those guys score. Just fun. At the end of the day it's a game and it's fun to see those guys enjoy it. Obviously, you don't want to [score a touchdown] that way, but hey, we'll take it."