WATCH: Asante Samuel Jr nabs third interception of first half, taunts crowd
Asante Samuel Jr. can keep playing football for a long time and he’ll struggle to match his performance in the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the wildcard round of the NFL playoffs on Saturday night. Three interceptions in a half of football is hard to top, especially as the Los Angeles Chargers are romping to big lead.
And after Samuel nabbed his third interception off of Trevor Lawrence — the fourth for the Jaguars second-year quarterback in the first half — before halftime, he had to rub it in. Back on the bench, he faced the crowd and tallied up his takeways.
Not one, not two, but three first-half interceptions. And the three balls Samuel caught in the first half, at that point, were more catches on passes thrown by Lawrence than any Jaguars player.
With fewer than five minutes until halftime, the Chargers are firmly in command and hold a 27-0 lead.
Samuel made some NFL history with the postseason interceptions
Some NFL history was made on Saturday night as Asante Samuel Jr. nabbed a trio of first-half interceptions off of Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. In hauling in his three interceptions in the wildcard round he joins his father, Asante Samuel, in having multiple playoff interceptions — and it makes them the only father-son duo to hold such honors.
Samuel is also the first player in NFL postseason history to have three first-half interceptions. An all-around historic performance from the young cornerback, and it’s still going.
The elder Samuel finished his career with seven postseason interceptions from an 11-year career.
The younger has just the three, and they all came in his first-ever postseason appearance.
Not a bad way to make it into the history books in more than just one way, son with dad and dad with son.