NFL Fans Couldn’t Get Enough of Davis Mills, but It Had Nothing to Do With His Play: TRAINA THOUGHTS

David Mills’s neck became the start of ‘Thursday Night Football’

1. Going back to my Hot Clicks days, I have written a lot of ridiculous things over the years for SI.com, but today may take the cake because I’m about to write a column about someone’s neck.

With Thursday night’s Panthers-Texans game being unwatchable, the star of Thursday Night Football became Davis Mills’s monstrous neck.

Most NFL fans were not familiar with Mills because he’s a rookie, but with the Stanford grad making his first pro start, America quickly became mesmerized by his neck, and quite frankly, how could you not be?

davis mills' neck holy shit pic.twitter.com/fX8a5nHdqG

— Austin Gayle (@austingayle_) September 23, 2021

What took the interest in Mills’s neck to the next level was that at one point in the game Texans coach David Culley wrapped his hands around the body part when Mills came back to the sideline after a play.

Texans coaches celebrate Davis Mills first NFL touchdown by doing more neck elongation exercises. pic.twitter.com/RwvQzQ9Jw7

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 24, 2021

This led to Twitter doing what it does best: serious analysis of a ridiculous topic ... also jokes.

Hot take: after watching him live, the neck is normal and it’s actually the head that’s abnormally small. Cover the head. Neck looks normal. Head is absurdly small

— Hank Williams (@HenryMikulski) September 24, 2021

is Culley choking him, or is Mills' neck holding Culley's hands hostage? pic.twitter.com/d6jolLvlgh

— Jameson (@the_Jameson) September 24, 2021

Davis Mills' neck is longer than any pass he's thrown tonight. https://t.co/bu01yYoRUx

— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) September 24, 2021

when Davis Mills does the "double-handed QB collar pull" it just accentuates his already shocking neck length pic.twitter.com/b1otJS8yea

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) September 24, 2021

Sorry Davis Mills. See you neck time

— lindsey ok (@lindseyyok) September 24, 2021

how many scarves does davis mills have to wear to keep his neck warm? does he have to have extended-size hoods on his hoodies? i have many questions. https://t.co/XYhVOpd0Ov

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 24, 2021

I'm not watching thursday night football but I can still see Davis Mills' neck

— Spaced God (@Spaced_God) September 24, 2021

What does Davis Mills call his neck pillow?

A pillow https://t.co/iAKbnNpXel pic.twitter.com/xpC5qeUf4w

— The Fantasy Ladder🪜(Steve) (@FantasyLadder) September 23, 2021

My colleague Mitch Goldich perfectly summed up the hysteria about Mills’s neck:

Davis Mills could have been just an anonymous dude making his first start at 1:00. But he happens to be playing on Thursday night, and now everyone on the internet is talking about how long his neck is. Cruel world.

— Mitch Goldich 🐙 (@mitchgoldich) September 24, 2021

2. This was a pretty great thread, prompted by Sam Darnold’s strong play with Carolina, by NFL writer Kevin Clark on former Jets and Dolphins head coach Adam Gase.

I regret to inform you—this is not a joke—that Adam Gase’s Michigan high school, Marshall, won the state title in the first season after his 1996 graduation.

— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) September 24, 2021

3. There have been approximately a billion changes to sports media over the past 20 years, but one constant has been ESPN's Pardon the Interruption. The show is celebrating the big anniversary with a special Tuesday night.

ESPN will celebrate 20 years of @PTI with a one-hour TV special (Tues, 7p ET) and a four-part ESPN Daily #PTI20 podcast series hosted by @PabloTorre (debuting Oct 2): https://t.co/0D9WXjpthc

Tony Kornheiser and @RealMikeWilbon officially mark 20 years together on Oct 22. pic.twitter.com/IaBjraxHcm

— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) September 23, 2021

4. Marshall pulled off a tremendous fake kickoff return for a TD against Appalachian State on Thursday night.

Unreal run back. Completely faked the camera and the entire coverage team out pic.twitter.com/bU44p9Kgpi

— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) September 24, 2021

5. I forgot to post this Thursday, but on Wednesday, SiriusXM's Chris “Mad Dog” Russo went completely nuts—the man was literally screaming into a couch–while comparing NFL defenses of today with those from the ’70s and ’80s, and it was glorious.

ICYMI: The @MadDogUnleashed loses his mind! If you enjoyed hearing it, wait till you see it!
For more videos of “Mad Dog Unleashed” download or visit the SiriusXM App https://t.co/vTjUpbXxnW pic.twitter.com/C9ZGjtDCYE

— Mad Dog Sports Radio (@MadDogRadio) September 22, 2021

6. A brand-new SI Media Podcast with two guests dropped this morning.

First up is wrestler Bryan Danielson, formerly known as Daniel Bryan. Danielson talks about jumping from WWE to AEW, what he's most looking forward to in AEW, his relationship with Vince McMahon, why Vince was overprotective of him and much more.

Following Danielson, New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand joins the podcast to talk about the success of Monday Night Mannings, Al Michaels headed to Amazon, the strong ratings for the NFL and college football, Gus Johnson’s return to the NFL and more.

The show closes with the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment featuring WFAN's and SNY’s Sal Licata. This week, we talk about the NFL’s emphasis on taunting, a must-see wrestling show and why Sal hates laptops.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 45th birthday, Stephanie McMahon. During the Attitude Era, Stephanie was not afraid to mix it up with the guys and took stunners, chokeslams and Rock Bottoms. 

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.