Shawn Slocum watched the onside kick bounce high into the air – and then he saw the wrong scout-team player leap for the ball.
“28!” the Arizona State special-teams coordinator yelled.
Twenty-eight was supposed to let the teammate behind him field the kick. In the moment, instinct had taken over.
Not much later, 28 lined up on the scout kickoff team. Before the kick, Slocum explained the kick was full speed but to stay up. In other words: no tackling.
The kick went high into the air, junior returner Brandon Aiyuk caught it and raced down field – only to be tackled by 28.