Seahawks' Quandre Diggs Credits Deion Sanders After 'Shameful' Interception vs. Jets
Everything's always more tolerable after a win.
And for Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, this was the case after witnessing some mid-play celebration antics from safety Quandre Diggs following a first-quarter interception in Sunday's 23-6 home win over the New York Jets.
"A great pick, a great return, shameful return by Quandre coming up the sidelines," Carroll said half-seriously.
But since the Seahawks are still in the playoff hunt headed into Week 18, Diggs says his head coach can "deal with" the celebration for now.
"He’ll be alright," Diggs said. "Pete will be alright. I’m the only one in the league with 3-plus interceptions the last six years. He can deal with it.”
After snagging the ball, Diggs raised it in the air as he continued to gain yardage on the ensuing return downfield.
But where did the mid-play celebration come from?
According to Diggs, the inspiration came from none other than the legendary Deion Sanders.
“Shout out to Deion," he said. "No lie, I was on TikTok and I saw when Deion came back for his last year in Baltimore when he was wearing 37, and I saw him do it."
The play Diggs is referring to - which can be seen here - came on one of the final interceptions of Sanders' Hall-of-Fame career during his second-to-last NFL season in 2004. Sanders, who was with the Baltimore Ravens, intercepted a deep pass from Washington quarterback Mark Brunell and immediately raised the ball in the air as he ran down the field.
It was something Diggs had on his mind entering the game, but the celebration itself was still a bit spontaneous.
"I was like, ‘If I get a pick this week, I’m going to do that,'" Diggs said. "It was kind of an ‘in the moment’ deal.
His interception helped set the tone for what turned into a dominant day by the Seattle defense, which kept the Jets out of the end zone and scoreless overall in the second half. It also marked his third pick of the season.
Diggs sparked Seattle in Week 17. Now, he'll need to do the same to keep his team's playoff hopes alive on Sunday at home against the Los Angeles Rams.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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