Racing toward the end zone in the Super Bowl with a wide-open lane to score is something that many young football players dream of long before they reach the NFL.
When the above occurred for veteran RB Jerick McKinnon, he did something different. He could have scored and gone on to say to friends and family, “Hey, I scored a touchdown in Super Bowl LVII!”
Instead, he remembered his training and he sacrificed his personal glory at that moment to ensure that his team would have their best chance to become champions. On Friday, the Chiefs practice situational football. This situation called for “Church Mode.”
“It was ‘Church Mode,'” McKinnon said to NFL Network’s James Palmer after the game. “That’s what we practice. You know, take it down to the two, declare yourself down and then we run the clock out. The rest is history. These are situations that we practice over and over again so that when we get in these moments, it’s nothing new to us.”
The sideline relayed to Patrick Mahomes, who relayed to his teammates that it was time for “Church Mode.” They knew the Philadelphia Eagles had no timeouts and that they could run the clock down to eight seconds, kick a field goal and go on to win the game should they do everything right at that moment.
Doing everything right, however, was on the players. In the defining moment of the game, McKinnon chose to do what the situation called for.
“I’ve always seen this for myself,” McKinnon told KSHB-TV’s Aaron Ladd in the locker room after the game. “To this point, I never really (been about) personal achievements. My main goal when I came into the league was to win a Super Bowl. I’m here in year nine and I’ve got a Super Bowl championship on my name.”
At 30 years old, there is no guarantee that McKinnon ever sees another Super Bowl. He might never have a chance to score in the biggest game on the biggest stage ever again. But he’s a champion now and large in part because of his decision not to score a touchdown. No one can take that away from him.
“When you go through what I went through and you have that background and you keep fighting, it makes this moment worth it,” McKinnon said. “I love these guys.”
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