Saints rookie Sheldon Rankins didn’t know he picked off Tom Brady
He was in for a surprise when he got to the sideline.
Saints rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins surprised everybody at Tuesday’s joint practice between the New Orleans and New England when he intercepted Tom Brady and ran it back for a touchdown. As it turns out, Rankins didn’t even realize the feat he’d accomplished.
“I didn’t really realize it was Tom Brady until after,” he told reporters. “Somebody told me, ‘You just picked off a four-time Super Bowl champion.'”
Rankins, a 301-pound lineman, might not get another opportunity to celebrate a pick-6. When asked if he said anything to Brady after picking him off, however, Rankins answered firmly in the negative. “I wouldn’t want to tempt him like that. He’s been doing this for a long time, I definitely wouldn’t want to upset him and have him go out there and try even harder than he already does.”
The rookie, who was taken 12th overall out of Louisville by the Saints in this year’s draft, had to look back a few years to remember his last interception.
“My junior year of college, against Boston College. It was the game-clinching interception.”
When a reporter jokingly asked if he waited until he was in Boston to come up with interceptions, Rankins also recalled that the highlight play of his senior year, a fumble returned for a touchdown, also came against BC.
“Wow. Okay,” he said with a smile, “I guess I got a thing for Boston.”
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