Jakobi Meyers pounded his fist on the podium at his introductory press conference in Las Vegas and thanked a reporter for asking him to address his failed lateral that gave the Raiders a walk-off victory over the Patriots in Week 15.
“I was waiting on it. Thank you man, I appreciate you,” said Meyers with a smile on his face.
Meyers said he learned a lot from the experience, particularly how to treat others when they make a mistake.
“That was a humbling experience,” Meyers said. “As a man, as a football player, that was just tough. I knew what it meant to the team that I was on at the time. It really hurt me because family is really big for me. When I went through it, in the moment, my heart was broken.
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Yes, @jkbmyrs5 answered THAT question 😂 pic.twitter.com/ODcAeQQ1r6
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) March 16, 2023
“But, days after, just seeing how the guys kind of rallied around me, it built me up as a person. Now I know when one of my teammates messes up, who I want to be in that situation. How I want to help them. What type of love and support I want to give.”
The game was tied with three seconds to go when Mac Jones handed the ball off to Rhamondre Stevenson. Instead of going down with the football and playing for overtime, Stevenson lateralled the ball to Meyers.
Meyers ran backwards and lofted the ball back towards Jones. But former Patriots defensive lineman Chandler Jones was there waiting for it. He leapt, caught the ball, hit Mac Jones with a crushing stiff-arm to the facemask, and raced into the end zone for the go-ahead score.
Jakobi Meyers had this unthinkable play last year to lose the game vs. the Raiders.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 14, 2023
Now he'll be playing for them.
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/9WxCKOxXsJ
Meyers faced heavy criticism after the play, which cost the Patriots a win during a tight playoff race.
Meyers said he still doesn’t know exactly what happened or why he made the decision to throw the ball.”That’s the truth. I really don’t know,” Meyers said. “I had the ball, and then I didn’t have the ball. That was the end of it. But, as far as growth, it taught me a lot about myself and how I want to interact with people in the future.”
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