NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Saints receiver Samson Nacua made a stirring special teams play that he and his team won't soon forget — even if the way it ended left him with regret.
Nacua wasn't even expecting to be on the field when special teams coaches sent him out for the possibility of returning a 58-yard field goal attempt by Tennessee second-string kicker Brayden Narveson late in the first half of a preseason game on Sunday.
What followed was a 106-yard, sideline-to-sideline return from the back of New Orleans' end zone.
Nacua was forced out of bounds at the Tennessee 3 by Titans tight end Thomas Odukoya.
Because time had expired, the unusual play did not lead to a scoring opportunity for New Orleans in a 30-27 loss. But it was a highly entertaining display of athleticism lasting nearly 20 seconds from the time the ball landed in Nacua's hands.
“I let the guys down," said the 26-year-old Nacua, older brother of Rams receiver Puka Nacua. "I should have pitched it to the homeboy that was right there and let him walk it in.”
Nacua was signed during training camp. He has never played in a regular season NFL game but has played in the USFL and UFL since his college days at Utah and BYU.
When Nacua spoke in the locker room after Sunday's game, he hadn't yet perused the messages on his phone, but he noticed many had come in from family and friends.
“They’re probably going to tell me I am the slower brother — and I’m going to be sick because I know I’m faster than Puka,” a grinning Samson Nacua said.
“Going sideways made it feel like an extra 60 yards because I got to that 50-yard line and I was like, ‘My legs are gone,’” he said. “I was so tired.”
It's not clear whether the play will improve Nacua's chances of staying on the team past Tuesday, the deadline for teams to cut rosters from 90 players down to the regular season maximum of 53.
“That’s just part of the evaluation," Allen said. "The positive thing about that is there was a lot of smart football that took place on that play and there was a competitive nature of the guys that were on that unit in trying to score. It certainly was an exciting play.”
Odukoya, a native of the Netherlands, had a shot at tackling Nacua earlier in the return as he chased the play near the New Orleans 45, near the sideline to Nacua's left as he ran past and made his cut to the right, drifting all the way across the field as he made his way closer to the end zone.
Odukoya narrowly got the angle and ran through Saints players attempting to block to force Nacua out short of the end zone.
“That relentless effort to go chase that play down really saved a touchdown and ultimately probably won us the game,” Titans coach Brian Callahan said.
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