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Atlanta's Eric Weems is 5-9, weighs 194 pounds and looks fast when he stands still. When he runs, everybody else looks as if they stand still. The man does a 4.4 40.
On Sunday afternoon, he grabs Jason Baker's punt at the Atlanta 27, makes a cut and then a move and then he's free.
"There was not much left between Weems and the goal line," says Carolina Panther coach John Fox says.
There is one man between Weems and the goal line. He is Carolina punter Jason Baker. Baker does not run a 4.4 40. Baker does not look fast when he stands still. Baker is paid to kick, not to tackle.
Four minutes remain in the game when Weems fields Baker's punt. The Falcons trail 21-19. If Weems beats Baker, the Falcons score. They take their first lead since the first quarter, grab all the momentum and remind Carolina of its failure to hang onto a lead the previous week against New Orleans.
Here comes Weems. Here comes Baker.
It is the ultimate duel, man against man, player against player, specialist against specialist, and it is played out in front of 73,239 fans at Bank of America Stadium. It is no exaggeration to say that if Weems wins the Panthers lose.
Isn't this what every kicker wants? Doesn't every kicker crave the opportunity to prove that he is more than a guy who kicks a ball, that he can hit people and knock them to the turf or out of bounds like everybody else?
"No," says kicker Rhys Lloyd.
Baker forces Weems to commit to the outside and when he does Baker shoves him out of bounds.
But shoves is insufficient. Shoves fails to describe the quality of Baker's work. What Baker does looks like flying suplex, a wrestling technique that means different things to different people. The power of the tackle is such that it looks as if Baker picks Weems up and throws him over the ropes and out of the ring.
Todd Sauerbrun, who last played for the Panthers in 2004, is considered the best tackling punter in Panther history, even though he made many of his tackles off the field. Could Sauerbrun have stopped Weems?
"Yes, but he would have had to use his forearm," says Mike Minter, the former Panther safety who made a career of hard hits. The forearm, of course, is another favored professional wrestling technique.
I talk to Minter, who attends Sunday's game, before I talk to Baker.
"He's going to act humble," says Minter. "But inside he's going to be, like, 'Yeahhhhhh!"
How can Baker act humble?
The Panthers are in their 15th season. They have played 233 regular-season games. And after reviewing Baker's work, the tackle is without question one of the 25 greatest hits in Carolina history.
Weems goes flying.
"He must have tripped," Baker says.
After the game Baker slips on a T-shirt that features the face of Woody Allen.
You think Woody Allen ever made a hit like that?
"It was nothing that anybody in this locker would not have done for everybody else," says Baker.
Linebacker Jon Beason is one of the league's top tacklers. What does he think?
"It wasn't too textbook," says Beason. "But I like the intensity."
The time has come for a new textbook. NFL defensive statistics could one day include sacks, hurries and suplexes.
"It was sweet," safety Chris Harris says of Baker's hit. "I didn't know he had it in him."
Here's how moved Harris is.
"I think I'll invite him to our meeting," the safety says.
This is the ultimate compliment. Baker typically is invited only to the meetings of the special teams. This is like moving from the bleachers to the front row.
I tell Baker about the invitation.
"I don't know if I believe that," Baker says.
I understand the humility. A punter talking trash is like a bowler talking trash or a wedding singer talking trash or an accountant talking trash. But, Jason Baker, they didn't save the game. You did.
"I wanted to see him get excited and celebrate a little," says Beason.
Baker says he didn't celebrate because Weems returned the punt 24 yards.
"I wouldn't say I was completely excited but I was happy they didn't score," Baker says humbly.
Steve Smith, once an extraordinary punt returner, might not be as humble as Baker.
"If that was me," Smith says of Weems, "I would have run Baker over."
Baker made one of the top 25 tackles in Panther history, Steve Smith. Yet he's too humble to even talk about it.
"You write that," says Smith. "I'll have to hear about this from Baker for three weeks."
After a tackle like his, Baker is entitled to talk for four.
