Garrett Wilson noticed the ball coming his way and did everything he could to make the catch.
He leaped into the air, legs spread and arms reaching out in the end zone. With a stunning one-handed catch, the star wide receiver put the New York Jets ahead and left everyone watching—both in the stadium and at home—completely amazed.
“Oh, my goodness,” said interim coach Jeff Ulbrich.
Wilson’s impressive 26-yard touchdown catch helped the Jets win 21-13 against the Houston Texans on Thursday night, and it will definitely be featured in highlight reels for years.
“I was thinking, ‘That’s a good catch, and it needs to count,’” Wilson said. “I told everyone, ‘You’re getting me too hyped too soon. It has to count, so let’s chill!’
“Once it counted, I was like, ‘Okay, now you can say whatever you want.’” With the Jets facing a third-and-19 from the Texans’ 26, Aaron Rodgers threw the ball toward Wilson in the end zone, and Wilson did the rest.
He looked just like the Michael Jordan “Jumpman” logo as he caught the pass mid-air with his legs spread and landed in the end zone.
“I told him he might get kicked off Adidas after that catch,” joked Davante Adams, who is sponsored by Nike. “That looked like he’s on his way to Jumpman with me. I’ll talk to some people about that one. I’m not saying they’ll replace the logo—Mike might not like me saying that—but it was a tough catch.”
Wilson’s catch immediately reminded many of Odell Beckham Jr.’s famous one-handed grab against Dallas in 2014.
“Man, Odell’s catch was something else, and he got two feet down when the ball was going to land out of bounds,” said Wilson, who was watching that game live when Beckham made the catch. “And it was Odell, man. Odell against the Cowboys. That was the moment.
“For my name to even come up in that conversation, I feel blessed. I’m honored. But Odell, yeah, that’s the guy.” The play was initially ruled an incomplete pass, but Ulbrich decided to challenge it.
“I was talking to the ref while they were reviewing it,” Ulbrich said. “I told him, ‘Just for history’s sake, you have to say that’s a catch so it goes down in the books.’”
A video review showed that Wilson’s shin was down in the end zone, confirming the touchdown and giving the Jets a 14-10 lead with 12:54 left in the fourth quarter.
“I thought I put it in a pretty good spot, but really, I didn’t do much,” Rodgers said. “I just kind of tossed it up, and he made an amazing catch. When I saw the replay, it looked like he had his knee in, so I thought, let’s challenge it, and Brick was already in front of me signaling for it.”
This was the second of two one-handed touchdown catches Wilson made against the Texans. The first was a less dramatic, but still impressive, 21-yard touchdown that tied the game at 7 in the third quarter.
“That’s G, man,” Adams said. “I’ve seen him make catches like that in practice, so it’s not too surprising. “But doing that in front of 80,000 fans and maybe millions at home is something special.”
Wilson learned that Beckham’s catch came in a game the Giants ended up losing—so Wilson’s catch might be even better. “You know what? Okay,” Wilson said with a laugh. “Fair enough.”
