Adam Tillen, the Minnesota Vikings wide receiver, is still amazed at how much Britons have become football fans.
The 32-year-old was in three NFL rounds in London, ending his latest visit with a 28-25 victory over New Orleans Saints at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
That makes him one of the few players to have made the trip to the three used stadiums in the league’s 15-year history in the capital, all victories for Minnesota. It’s not something he takes lightly.
“Yes, that means a lot to me,” he said. “I was able to see the three pitches, in my first year I was in the coaching team so I didn’t play but it’s always good to come here and win and what a great fan base, what a great place.
“I think there is a huge opportunity to expand this game. Honestly, I think it’s the best game ever. I love slash football, but I feel like American football has something in it. I saw it here today.
“It’s my body, it’s fun, it’s exciting, there’s a lot going on, there’s a lot of excitement and that keeps you on your toes, so I hope we can continue to bring that to other countries and bring it to this country, because I feel like every time I come Up to here, it’s usually four or five years between us, and I think the game has evolved a lot.
“People really understand. You kind of expect to be like, ‘Do you know anything about football?’ And they’ll say yes, I grew up watching football, I played football, so that’s really cool.”
Thielen, who on Sunday had eight of nine goals for 72 yards, made his first trip to London with the Vikings who beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-27 at Wembley in 2013, then followed that trip in 2017 with a 33-16 victory. Cleveland Browns in Twickenham.
Sunday’s game, the 100th international game in NFL history, was played against 60,639, and arguably the most exciting of Thielen’s transoceanic journeys.
Minnesota got a touchdown early in the first quarter and extended its lead to 13-7 in the first half.
But the Saints bounced back with a touchdown and a turn in the third, and they took the lead for the first time with a touchdown from Taysom Hill and a two-point turn with 9:29 remaining in the fourth quarter to become 22-19.
The Vikings had six more points with a three-yard touchdown from Justin Jefferson (10 receptions from 13 goals for 147 yards), but Greg Joseph, who scored five for five in the afternoon, missed the conversion by one point.
The soon-to-be-revealed error was when Will Lutz hit a 60-yard field goal through posts – the second longest goal in Saints history – to tie the operation at 25 points with less than two minutes left.
Minnesota responded with a field goal of its own, and Lutz’s last-ditch effort, from 61 yards this time, hit the post and then the crossbar to give the Vikings the win.
“I thought they were on the inside,” Lutz said. “I hit them both with nails. I threw them there. The ball would move a little to the left. The second moved a little to the left. I was so shocked that he didn’t jump.”
“It’s not clear that every game is going to go your way. It’s not the start of the season I want it to be. I take it every week, one by one, and I haven’t had any thoughts, like ‘this week’. I thought I kicked the ball really well today. But yeah, I wanted to put this kick on the team. We needed to win today and that’s very frustrating.”
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