Fmr. Gopher Antoine Winfield Jr. Intercepts Patrick Mahomes In Super Bowl, Gets Revenge On Tyreek Hill
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Former Golden Gophers' star defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr. is now a Super Bowl champion with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And his performance Sunday evening was a memorable one.
The matchup between the two teams gave Winfield Jr. and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defensive secondary a chance at redemption. The team lost to the Kansas City Chiefs earlier in the season, with the secondary being torn apart by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who threw for three touchdowns.
It didn't happen again. Mahomes notched 270 yards, but didn't get a single touchdown and had two interceptions. Winfield Jr. snagged one of those interceptions in the third quarter. Tampa Bay went on to win 31-9, with the team's defensive performance being one of the main contributing factors.
So, on to the revenge part. In Kansas City's previous win, wide receiver Tyreek Hill had all three touchdowns, with 269 yards receiving. During that performance, Hill was seen taunting Winfield Jr., giving him a peace sign as he made his way in for one of his scores.
In the Super Bowl, Hill was limited to 73 yards and zero touchdowns.
Winfield Jr. said he had to give him the peace sign back.
"The taunting, man it's something I had to do," Winfield Jr. said to NFL Network. "When we played them earlier Hill went off on us. He backflipped right in front of my face and give me the (peace sign) so it was only right that I gave him the (peace sign) right back to him. It felt amazing to be able to do that."
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Winfield Jr.'s gesture to Hill signaled that the Buccaneers had indeed gotten their revenge, and that it was their turn to take over as the champions.
Tampa Bay wide receiver Tyler Johnson is also a former Gopher. He has one pass targeted at him, but had no catches.
Winfield Jr. is the son of Antoine Winfield Sr., who played on the Minnesota Vikings as a cornerback from 2004 to 2013.
