Doug Baldwin explains why he flipped off his OC before throwing a touchdown
He wanted to catch the ball not throw it
By
Will Brinson
•
1 min read
The Seahawks pulled off a heck of a trick play on Sunday in their win over the Eagles, with Doug Baldwin throwing a touchdown pass to Russell Wilson, the first-ever touchdown reception for a Seattle quarterback.
Baldwin wasn't thrilled about the call before the play, though, and was even so cheesed about it that he fired a middle finger in the direction of his offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell before the play.
(Emoji censorship obviously not part of the broadcast.)
Baldwin confirmed, via ESPN's Sheil Kapadia, after the game that he fired the bird in Bevell's direction, mainly because he wanted to catch the ball instead.
"We're in the f---ing red zone, and you want me to throw the ball?" Baldwin joked. "Throw me the ball."
Turns out Baldwin can throw alright too, because he hit Wilson for a nice play that resulted in a Seahawks score.
Baldwin to Wilson?
— NFL (@NFL) November 20, 2016
BALDWIN TO WILSON!@DangeRussWilson hauls in the TD catch! 😱😱😱 #PHIvsSEAhttps://t.co/dvj3mICaqv
And, obviously, it wasn't a situation where he was actually mad about the playcall. He just wanted to fire along a little message.
"It's more funny than it is anything," Baldwin said. "[Bevell] knows that when we get in the red zone, I want the ball thrown to me. I want to score touchdowns. And so, it's like in that situation, him flipping the bird to me because now he's got me throwing the ball to somebody else."
Per Kapadia, the Seahawks actually have been trying to call that play for four or five years but just haven't had the right opportunity.
They've gotten to the line of scrimmage with the play called previously but had to bail out because the defense didn't give them the right look.
On Sunday they got the look and Baldwin delivered. Even if he wasn't originally thrilled about having to throw the rock instead of catch it.
Baldwin, by the way, wasn't the only guy flinging the bird around on Sunday. Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict also got caught sending single-digit salutes to some fans, which will probably net him a pretty huge fine from the league.
