Sunday's Packers-Panthers game was one of the most anticipated of the season. Storylines included the return of Aaron Rodgers and playoff implications for both teams.
The game lived up to the hype with Green Bay and Carolina combining for 7 touchdowns, the most peculiar being Panthers WR Damiere Byrd's 9-yard reception in the third quarter.
It was the first touchdown of Byrd's career and it was a memorable one. Though he was originally ruled out of bounds, the call was reviewed and overturned. The main point of focus in the review was Byrd's bottom. Some, like Cam Newton, said his small posterior played a key role in the TD.
Cam Newton on Damiere Byrd’s first TD: “I guess it pays to have little cheeks.”
— Bill Voth (@PanthersBill) December 17, 2017
Others said small butt or not, he was out of bounds.
Is the butt drag the new toe drag? Twitter decides below.
Arguments for the TD:
Byrd's the word! #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/U6Iohm9b8I
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 17, 2017
Cheeky TD catch by @LookIn_Da_Miere. #KeepPounding
— Steven McDermott (@scubasteve_05) December 17, 2017
Yeah dude, in full speed doesn’t look like a catch.. but the first 9/10ths of his butt landed in bounds right after he re-established control of the ball. And he kept control throughout the process. By definition, that’s a catch.
— Jeremy Formo (@JFormo) December 17, 2017
Arguments against it:
Not a Packer or Panther fan but how can it be a touchdown when you land on the end line with one butt cheek in and one butt cheek out?
— Eric Bernsee (@erbatbg) December 17, 2017
That’s not a touchdown. Are we really calling one butt cheek the same as two feet in bounds?! #Packers
— butImstillangry 😡 (@butImstillangry) December 17, 2017
Ron Rivera just wasted a challenge. Byrd was clearly out of bounds when he finally secured the football in the end zone. #Packers
— Ralph Mancini (@ReverendRalph) December 17, 2017
Final ruling with photo evidence:
— mike santorelli (@savage0145) December 17, 2017
The worlds of butts and football collided (again) and the Panthers won 31-24.