And hey, why shouldn’t he?
The Giants’ rookie running back David Wilson went off on the New Orleans Saints Sunday night, running a kickoff back 97 yards for a touchdown and scoring two more TDs on the ground. Wilson, who was afforded his boost in field time after the Giants’ main ball carrier Ahmad Bradshaw left the game briefly with a leg injury, put on a dominant performance, helping his team to a 52-27 victory that left Big Blue in first place in the NFC Eastern division. And after each and every score, Wilson put on a second show: a perfect backflip, three in all, that made highlight reels up and down the cable sports dial. His acrobatics even landed him as the dizzying cover subject of Monday’s New York Post. (By the way, it looks like his new nickname, “Flip Wilson,” is gonna stick.)
But here’s what you may have missed: This isn’t Wilson’s first rodeo. He pulled a similarly impressive 360 in October, after nailing the first rushing touchdown of his professional career:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPwBvlAqivo
He also did one after throwing out the first pitch at a Mets game. And while still playing at Virginia Tech he did eight backflips in a row:
But here’s the kicker: Wilson isn’t even necessarily the best backflipper on the New York Giants, let alone in the NFL. Teammate Jason Pierre-Paul, a 6′ 5″, 278-lb defensive end, pulled off 14 consecutive backflips during a 2009 practice at the University of South Florida:
Haters will note that Pierre-Paul used his hands. But still: ball’s in your endzone, Flip.