The top five Jerick McKinnon plays from last season

1. A Super Bowl Legend

To be honest, there was never any doubt about which play would be number one. I mean, what could compare to a play that helped clinch the Super Bowl? With this play, it was what McKinnon didn’t do that made it so special.

With the score tied late in the fourth quarter against the Eagles and the ball deep in Philadelphia territory, McKinnon received the hand off. With acres of space in front of him, instead of carrying the ball into the end zone, he slides down at the one-yard line, sacrificing a huge moment of personal glory for the benefit of the team.

For McKinnon, it could have been his Damien Williams moment.

“Touchdown, Kan-sas City! Damien Williams runs to immortality and will be remembered forever in the Chiefs Kingdom,” Mitch Holthus yelled as Williams ran into the end zone to seal victory in Super Bowl LIV against the 49ers.

Holthus was right. Williams and that play will forever be remembered by Chiefs fans everywhere, the play that delivered Kansas City a Super Bowl.

McKinnon could have had that too, but he turned it down. He could have chosen to carry the ball one more yard into the end zone, to accomplish every football player and fan’s dream of scoring the game-winning touchdown in a Super Bowl. Instead, he put the team first and took a knee. He forced Philadelphia to burn its final timeout and set the stage for Butker’s game-winning field goal.

McKinnon made the right play. The Eagles actually wanted him to score. But if he had run the ball that extra yard, who could blame him? Sure, Philadelphia would have got the ball back, but points on the board matter and there are still no guarantees that the Eagles would have been able to score things and tie things up.

But thanks to McKinnon, we never have to worry about how things might have played out differently. Instead, we get to celebrate having another Lombardi Trophy in Kansas City.

He might not have a Super Bowl touchdown next to his name, but McKinnon is just as big of a Super Bowl legend as any in Kansas City. As the Chiefs themselves said, sometimes the best touchdowns are the ones you don’t actually score.