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Sports

Sean Payton Taunted Vikings Fans With Skol Clap Right Before Diggs TD

Oh, this is just a delicious bit of hubris from the Saints head coach.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Sunday's NFC divisional playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and the visiting New Orleans Saints is one of the all-time great viewing experiences I have ever had watching a football game. Mere hours after I sat next to some of the loudest and most obnoxious Steelers fans known to man and listened with delight as they tried to process losing to Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars, I watched Stefon Diggs complete a play that was as dramatic as it was unlikely.

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It's hard to imagine how you could improve on those 35 or so seconds, but thanks to Saints head coach Sean Payton, we don't have to. The brash play-caller decided to taunt Vikings fans behind the bench by mimicking the "skol" chant they've adopted since watching Iceland in UEFA Champions League action. And he did it right before the Diggs play.

Now, granted, the Saints were all but guaranteed to win at that point. Only ten seconds remained, the Vikings trailed by one, and needed a miracle just to get off a desperation field goal. But that is why you don't want to tempt fate. It's not the known that you're scared of, it's the unknown, crazy-ass shit you practically will into existence with your own excessive pride. One second you are shit-talking random midwesterners, and the next Case Keenum and Stefon Diggs bewitch rookie safety Marcus Williams who promptly forgets how to play football for a nano-second and, forget a field goal, you just gave up a 61-yard touchdown to lose the game.

Payton, however, is taking the loss in stride and told reporters that it was all just "good playoff fun."

The Vikings continue the fun next Sunday in Philadelphia against the Eagles for a shot hosting the Super Bowl.