Utah wide receiver Kaelin Clay pulled a DeSean Jackson in last weekend's loss to Oregon when he dropped the football just short of the end zone on what would have otherwise been a walk-in touchdown.
Clay, who went to the same high school as Jackson and considered him an idol, was understandably devastated
— Lindsey Scott (@lindseymscott) November 9, 2014
Kaelin Clay & DeSean Jackson both went to Long Beach Poly H.S. Apparently "Drop ball at 1" is popular WR drill there. pic.twitter.com/XarU8c03An
— LostLettermen.com (@LostLettermen) November 9, 2014
Jackson did the same thing as a rookie with the Eagles back in 2008.
"He kinda let the ball go a little similar to how I did," Jackson told NFL Network this week. "That's one thing, man, we can't really condone, but it's something that's happened so we can't look past it. It's a bonehead mistake. Hopefully he learns from that. I did that one time and [you're] never, ever going to see it again. So it's unfortunate. Hopefully he can learn and never have to do that again."
Actually, it took Jackson doing it two times before he learned his lesson. He also managed to drop the ball at the 1-yard line as a high school senior in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
"The reason why I did it [on Monday Night Football]," Jackson explained, "I was trying to get in the end zone and score and do my little dance, but unfortunately I let the ball go too early."
That's one way of putting it, yes.
"You can't be down on yourself," Jackson said he told Clay's father this week. "Things happen, you just gotta go out there and expect nothing but the best. Once something bad or something negative happens, the best way to respond is come back and do something positive."
* via Sports Bog