Falcons' KhaDarel Hodge Makes Surprise Admission After Game-Winning TD

The first catch of the 2024 season for Falcons receiver KhaDarel Hodge was memorable -- a deep, 22-yard pass from quarterback KIrk Cousins in the second quarter against the Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football.

The second catch, though, was so memorable for Hodge that he actually could not quite remember it, even as it happened. That's because, Hodge's catch was a dramatic, walk-off 45-yarder from Cousins in overtime that secured a wild 36-30 Atlanta win. It was such a mind-bending play for a journeyman like Hodge that, he said, he lost touch with reality.

Yes, one of the heroes of the game admitted he blacked out in the end zone.

“I can’t make this up,” Hodge said, via USA Today . “It still, to me, feels like a movie. I checked in (for) one play and to go to the crib? Me? I don’t know what to say. When I scored, I kind of blacked out, and I saw the guys coming.”

Hodge made the play after taking a short pass from Cousins on the right side. He took a step inside and found a crease, then split four Buccaneers defenders to reach the end zone.

In his career, Hodge entered Thursday's game as mostly a special teams player, who had 57 catches for 864 yards over seven seasons with the Rams, Browns, Lions and now the Falcons. He had only scored one touchdown before in his career, back in a 2022 Week 10 loss in his first season with Atlanta.

Hodge did, days earlier in a win over the Saints, score a special-teams touchdown when he recovered a misplayed punt in the end zone.

Thursday, though, marked a special moment in Hodge's career, which began as an undrafted player out of Prairie View in 2018.

“It’s big, coming from an HBCU,” he said. “You’re fighting every year for a roster spot, the fourth or fifth receiver. You’ve got to go with the mindset, ‘I’ve got to get it out of the mud and take advantage of every opportunity, whether it’s on (special) teams or on offense.' You’ve got to have that mindset to not quit.”