Raiders' Jack Jones snatches ball back from kid in Kansas City stands, but claims there was more to story
Jack Jones was not in the giving spirit on Christmas.
The Las Vegas Raiders cornerback took the football from the Chiefs with a pick-six of Patrick Mahomes. He then snatched it back from a kid after offering it up in the end-zone stands, though he claimed there was more to story hours later.
Jones intercepted Mahomes late in the second quarter and returned it 33 yards to give the Raiders a 17-7 lead. It was a critical play in a stunning, 20-14 upset that eliminated Kansas City from securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
After the play, Jones jogged to the stands, where he offered the ball to a small child wearing Chiefs gear. But at the last second, he snatched it back.
Slow motion tells the real story, from the initial joy in the mother's face to the confusion in the child's to the exasperation in the father's when he realized what happened. Then there's the dude in the second row who tried to steal the ball from everyone (more on that later).
It's an action-packed two-second tale.
Jack Jones. I love it. pic.twitter.com/svCkyH3d8b
— Zach Rosas (@ZachRosas2) December 25, 2023
The still image is worth another look.
After the game, Jones embraced his new-found villain role with a nod to the biggest Christmas villain of them all. He posted an Instagram image of himself returning the ball with his head replaced by the Grinch's.
"Merry Christmas Raider nation," Jones wrote alongside an icon of a Christmas tree and a pirate flag.
While he emphasized his role as Grinch, Jones also pleaded innocence on actually snatching the ball back from the kids. Hours after the game, he quote-tweeted an account who called him "the biggest prick in the entire NFL" and claimed he was actually trying to stop the guy behind the kid from taking the ball.
I didn’t snatch that ball from the kid it was from that blac dude who tried to take it watch it again lollipop https://t.co/SNkD0lk08d
— Jack Jones🏄🏽♂️ (@presidentjacc) December 26, 2023
As always, the Grinch can be a complicated character. But it will be no less a merry Christmas for Raiders fans.