The Vikings radio call of the Stefon Diggs touchdown is absolute bliss
By Josh Hill
The Minnesota Vikings were absolutely not supposed to pull off a walk-off win against the Saints, and Paul Allen’s call is an all-timer.
It cannot be expressed how much the Vikings were not supposed to win on Sunday. Not because they weren’t the better team, but because they are infinitely cursed to always have whatever could go wrong, go wrong.
Not on Sunday, though. For once in the history of the franchise, the clouds in the sky parted and something good happened. For a fan base that had to suffer through the two Championship Game losses in the last 20 years, as well as four Super Bowl losses in its history, things like Stefon Diggs catching a game-winning walk-off touchdown catch simply do not happen.
Paul Allen has been the Vikings play-by-play man for the last 20 years, and he’s perhaps the most vocal supporter of the team. Not only is he the actual voice of the team on radio but his animated calls make you feel every fracture of his heart as it breaks whenever the Vikings let him down.
In 2003, he made an infamous call when Josh McCown and Nate Poole knocked the Vikings out of the playoffs. His call of the 2009 NFC championship game and Blair Walsh’s missed kick in the 2015 wild card game make you feel the pain that fans have felt for years.
That’s why when something euphoric happens — like on Sunday — Paul Allen’s joy makes it feel so much better.
Just listen, it’s the best.
Minnesota sports is not a fun thing. It’s not something you choose, it’s a lifestyle you’re born into and have to wear like a cross for the rest of your life. To call Minnesota a sports boneyard is to put it lightly.
Things like the “Minneapolis Miracle” simply do not happen. The fact that it did is the kind of reversal of fortune that they write about in movies. On Sunday night, Hollywood was in downtown Minneapolis.
You don’t need to be a Vikings fan to enjoy that. It’s something that sports fans anywhere can connect to. It’s pure joy, and is the absolute antithesis of what Minnesota Sports stands for.