The Middies are The Checkdown's midseason awards for the best pop culture x football moments of Week 1 thru 9. Each day this week, we'll present nominees for the best celebrations and reveal the winner on Friday.
On Tuesday, you got to see the Eagles play hardball and the Packers go bobsledding. Today, we have another group celebration with Taco Charlton serving up snacks for his teammates and Stefon Diggs doing a tribute to one of the greatest receivers of all time.
Stefon Diggs' Salute to Randy Moss
Minnesota's home opener was special for a few reasons this year: the game was played on 9/11, featured on Monday Night Football, and included legendary wide receiver Randy Moss being inducted into the Vikings Ring of Honor.
Current Vikings WR Stefon Diggs decided to honor Moss in a few different ways. He started off by getting Mache Custom Kicks and Nike to provide him with one-of-a-kind cleats featuring No. 84 on the design.
Then Diggs took the tribute up a notch by hauling in an 18-yard touchdown reception and then doing Moss' "splitting the defense" celebration. If that weren't enough, Diggs also became the first Vikings WR with two touchdowns in a season opener since Moss did it back in 2004.
Custom cleats? Check. Cool tribute in the end zone? Uh huh. Playing Moss-esque with Mr. "Straight Cash, Homey" in the building? Yup. Props to Diggs for his play that night and reminding us of how great one of the most exciting players in NFL history really was.
Taco Charlton Serves The Boys... Tacos
Yes, this happened in the preseason. Yes, we're still including it despite that fact because the backstory is just that awesome.
Vidauntae "Taco" Charlton has been hearing jokes (and questions) about his nickname for as long as he could remember. I'm sure everyone from kindergarten classmates to professional coaches have made some form of a "hilarious" taco joke that he's heard a dozen times before. However, the Cowboys' rookie takes it in stride and even incorporated his nickname into his first NFL celebration by making tacos for his teammates. What makes his sack celebration even more great is the story on how he got his nickname.
Taco said he got the moniker from his mother and grandmother, but his mom, Tamara Charlton, told DallasCowboys.com the name's origin is more than just a cute name for a baby. "Taco was a preemie -- he was about two months premature," his mom said. "And at that time, Taco Bell had a commercial, 'Rushing for the Border' or 'Running for the Border.' My mom [Taco's grandmother] would say he was running for the border, since I kept going into pre-term labor."
Keep your eyes on The Checkdown all this week as we continue to review the nominees for best TD celebrations (so far), and other categories in The Middies for excellence at midseason.