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Friday’s Hot Clicks: Blind USC Football Player Max Olson Nails Viral ‘Bird Box Challenge’

Jake Olson can do just about anything without seeing. 

Dan Gartland

Friday’s Hot Clicks: Blind USC Football Player Max Olson Nails Viral ‘Bird Box Challenge’
Friday’s Hot Clicks: Blind USC Football Player Max Olson Nails Viral ‘Bird Box Challenge’ /

This guy wins the Bird Box challenge

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Netflix

The hottest thing in certain corners of social media right now is the “Bird Box Challenge,” inspired by the Netflix movie of the same name. The premise of the film is that if you see the monster you die, so Sandra Bullock takes her kids on a blindfolded mission of survival. The “challenge” features regular people blindfolding themselves and attempting to do everyday tasks without the benefit of sight—or just taking selfies in front of the house used in the filming of the movie.

USC long snapper Jake Olson, for example, was able to execute a flawless snap while wearing a blindfold over his eyes.

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Olson was a cheating a little bit, though, because he’s actually blind. After being diagnosed with cancer as a kid, Olson lost one eye when he was just 10 months old and the other at age 12. During his cancer battle, he became close with the USC football team and after snapping in high school was invited to join the Trojans as a walk-on when he enrolled in 2015. 

Olson first saw game action against Western Michigan in 2017, when he made a perfect snap on an extra point. He snapped against Oregon State later that season and in two games this season. 

Olson has proven he can do just about anything without his sight and will graduate this spring with a degree in business administration, currently boasting a GPA over 3.0. If you ever need to escape a monster that kills you on sight, you know who to call. 

The refs were also doing the Bird Box challenge

The Rockets prevailed over the Warriors on the road in an overtime thriller, and it’s a good thing they did. Can you imagine what would have happened if Houston went on to lose the game after a blown call as bad as this one?

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The call came with under 30 seconds to play in overtime and allowed Stephen Curry to hit a deep two that gave Golden State the lead. Durant had both feet out of bounds but nobody in a striped shirt thought he was outside the field of play. 

The refs were the only ones who thought Durant’s play was legal. 

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But the Rockets won it on this contested three by James Harden with just a second to play. 

They really don’t like Kawhi in San Antonio

Here’s a video that got a lot of attention before last night’s Spurs-Raptors game, Kawhi Leonard’s return to San Antonio. 

“Thanks for supporting me, Kawhi Leonard, the basketball player. That’s it, really. Just thanks for the support.”

People thought it was funny because it sounded like Kawhi being his usual robotic self. But after the reception he got during the game, it’s clear that he was making a distinction between fans supporting Kawhi Leonard, the basketball player, and Kawhi Leonard, the guy who plays basketball.

Once he stopped playing for their team, the fans turned on him, booing lustily and chanting “traitor.”

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Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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