The first Sunday of the 2023 NFL season brought with it the glory of NFL RedZone being back in our lives, with an opening kickoff Octobox welcoming us to another year filled with seven hours of commercial free football every Sunday.
However, for all the brilliance of the folks in the RedZone production room, they didn’t notice the wildest thing to happen on an opening kickoff in the 1 p.m. window, as they cut away from Titans-Saints despite a crazy defensive play from Tennessee’s Amani Hooker. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later (after a lengthy review in New Orleans) that we got to go back and see how the Titans offense actually ended up with the football to start the game despite the Saints receiving the opening kickoff, as Hooker somehow ripped the ball away from return man Rashid Shaheed and got control of it before he bounced out of bounds.
WHAT A WAY TO START THE SEASON @amanihooker37
: Watch #TENvsNO on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/STAgPFuoFX
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) September 10, 2023
It really is a crazy play to get your hands in there, rip the ball away, and gain control all while keeping your body in bounds long enough before bounding out of bounds. Unfortunately for Hooker, his heroics could only yield a field goal for the Titans, as they actually went backwards on their opening drive, scoring three points on -8 yards of offense due to penalties.