Eagles QB Tanner McKee gets 1st career TD football back with a little help from fans in the stands
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee (16) reacts after throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver DeVonta Smith during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Matt Slocum
PHILADELPHIA — Tanner McKee’s first career NFL touchdown pass was thrown to a Philadelphia Eagles fan named Patrick Driscoll.
OK, McKee actually threw the 20-yard TD to Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J Brown, who — in a momentary lapse of reason — chucked the souvenir football into the Lincoln Financial field stands.
Uh-oh.
“I felt so bad,” Brown said, “because I threw it so far.”
McKee, a sixth-round pick out of Stanford in 2023, is a career third-string QB who had never played a regular-season snap until he was pressed into emergency duty Sunday against Dallas.
Jalen Hurts did not start because of a concussion and Kenny Pickett — who ran and threw for a TD in the Eagles' 41-7 win — was knocked of the game with injured ribs.
That opened the door for the 24-year-old McKee to play in a game in which the Eagles clinched the NFC East.
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) launches the football onto the stands after catching a touchdown pass from quarterback Tanner McKee, not visible, during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Philadelphia. Looking on are wide receiver Jahan Dotson (83) and wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6). Credit: AP/Chris Szagola
He did his part — including the 20-yard strike in the third that made it 34-7. The celebration was temporarily muted when he realized his ball — a milestone keepsake for any player — was somewhere in the stands.
Little did McKee know the ball was coming back to him.
Eagles fans kicked off a bit of a relay with the ball once they realized its significance to McKee. Driscoll, who caught the ball, was promised a jersey from Brown. He sent the ball to one fan, who passed it to Eagles security chief “Big” Dom DiSandro to hand to another Eagles employee to Brown and finally to McKee.
Souvenir secured.
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) gestures toward the stands after realizing the football he launched onto the stands is quarterback Tanner McKee's first career touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Chris Szagola
“I appreciate whoever gave the ball back,” McKee said. “(Brown) was like, ‘I’m sorry, bro. I got the ball back.’ So, yeah, it was good. He made a great play, and obviously a great catch.”
It was Brown's throw that needed work.
Driscoll caught the ball from his seat in Section 110 and said he had no issue returning the ball to the Eagles.
“I’m holding it,” Driscoll told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Obviously don’t want to let go of it, A.J. Brown just threw it up from the end zone. I see some people coming up being like, he wants the ball back. It meant something.”
Brown stripped off and signed his game jersey and handed it to Driscoll as a thank-you for returning the football — all while fans chanted “E-A-G-L-E-S!” around him.
“We've got great fans here,” Brown said.
McKee needed more room on the trophy shelf — he threw a second TD pass in the fourth quarter.
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