Chiefs' Jerick McKinnon opens up about famous Super Bowl slide

Kansas City Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon insists he was simply doing his job when he completed a selfless play to keep the clock running late in what became a 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. 

"I don’t think in the moment I understood the magnitude of it," McKinnon recently explained, as shared by Adam Teicher of ESPN. "We were just running a play and I was just doing what I was supposed to. Afterward, after I had a chance to sit back, it really hit me. It started to become bigger than I thought it was." 

With the game tied at 35 and under two minutes remaining in regulation, McKinnon accepted a handoff from quarterback Patrick Mahomes at around the Philadelphia 10-yard line and then journeyed toward the end zone as Eagles defenders purposely stayed away hoping the 31-year-old would score a touchdown and give their offense a chance to either tie or win the title contest. McKinnon instead kept his cool and slid down in-play at the two-yard line so Kansas City could burn more time. 

Harrison Butker ultimately converted a game-winning field goal with only eight seconds left on the clock, and McKinnon's name was forever cemented in Super Bowl history even though he didn't deliver the championship-clinching score. 

"It’s part of my legacy," he said. "It’s a great picture of putting the team first. That’s what I’ve always been about. That play had a lot of significance to me." 

During Super Bowl XLVI in February 2012, then-New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw failed to stop himself short of the goal line and accidentally scored a touchdown on a similar play that gifted the New England Patriots an opportunity to win the game. While everything worked out alright for Bradshaw and the Giants that night, McKinnon has no regrets regarding his decision. 

"I’d do it again if it’s that situation," McKinnon said. "...I’m going to take a knee every time."