With three sacks of Drew Brees on Sunday, Chris Long had ample opportunity to show off an array of post-sack celebrations. But it was the first one that caught everyone’s eye, especially those of David Freese and the World Champion Cardinals watching from the sidelines.
After meeting James Hall in Brees’ backyard and dumping him to the ground, Long got up, shook off backslaps from his teammates, put his hands together and swung for the fences.
Watch: Chris Long’s baseball swing sack celebration.
It was a fitting tribute to Freese, Pujols, Berkman and the array of clutch hitting displayed by the Redbirds in their impossible Game 6 five-time comeback win. But it reminded me of another sack artist who used to make that his trademark move.
That man was Neil Smith, former defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos. Smith, a Nebraska product, was displaying some Midwest pride in the game’s greatest hitter at the time: George Brett of the Kansas City Royals. Smith’s rookie season with the Chiefs was in 1988, one year after Brett’s Royals — with some help from one of the worst calls in World Series history — shocked the Cardinals in the 1987 World Series.
Neil Smith’s baseball swing sack celebration.
Now I’m not one to endorse thievery, but in this case, it feels extra good to see a St Louis team and a St Louis star steal that celebration back.
