Gone in 12 seconds: A Kene Nwangwu kick return story

On his return for touchdown against the 49ers, the ball was sent short and right down the middle, making it easy to answer all the questions about whether he could return it.

“The first thing I’m judging is the height of the ball, how high does it hang up and the distance into the end zone,” Nwangwu said. “Every kick return, every time we go out there we have different rules on what kicks we want to take out, what kicks we want to take a knee on and all that type of stuff. If it’s a good kick and it’s in our boundaries of what we want to take out we will return the ball.”

The play call in this instance was to return toward the boundary. Nwangwu signaled to the return team that he was going to take the ball to the right sideline. Once he got under the ball, he prepared his feet for takeoff.

“When we get under the ball, we call it ‘the rocker steps,’” Nwangwu said. “I usually tend to have my left foot forward, I think it’s my dominant leg. When I get in a track stance I always have my left foot forward, right foot back so when I get the ball I can step into it rather than gather and then step.”

0:01

At takeoff, Nwangwu has to balance using his 4.32 40-yard dash speed and not outrunning his blockers.

“I’m usually trying to get three hard steps before I need to set up my blockers,” Nwangwu said. “I want to keep them true. We have an idea of where the ball should go but if I just run all the way out there — say if I caught the ball and I ran straight to the right, it’s going to be hard on our kickoff return team to make their blocks true.”

He calls Ham and Mattison his “extended eyes." The holes are going to be wherever they are headed. Within his first few steps, Nwangwu could already sense something developing.

“I’m pretty much following Mattison and CJ and the moment I knew it was either going to be a big return was from the hole, I could see there is a gaping hole from our double team and a space from Mattison, so I was like, we’re going at least 30 or 40 yards,” Nwangwu said. “I’m trying to set them up vertically not at full speed and then make a cut and evaluate and see if I can hit it or if I need to make somebody shake.”

0:02

Ham and Mattison seal off the right side, making the decision easy for Nwangwu to shoot into the gap. Had the defenders “spilled” into the middle of the field, he would have cut it outside and gone down the sideline.

“They came toward the field where they met CJ and Mattison but pretty much they held their landmark,” Nwangwu said. “They stayed in the boundary and CJ and Mattison were able to kick them out so I just went right behind them.”

Once Nwangwu reached the hole, he spotted the kicker.

“I saw the angle that the kicker was taking on that one and I knew if I made a quick cut right off the double team he wouldn’t be able to stop his feet fast enough to come and tackle me.”

0:03

When kickoff coverage goes wrong, the kicker is the guy who often pays for it as the last line of defense. Once Nwangwu reached his one-on-one moment, he made a quick cut that sent the kicker flying like Allen Iverson crossing over a rec league basketball player.

“The way I see it, there’s 11 people on kickoff and there’s a 11 people on kick return, that’s my guy, the guy I have to make miss is the kicker,” Nwangwu said. “I’m setting up that block and I see the kicker’s angle, so I saw it while I was running and I knew if I could stick my foot in the ground off that double team, he doesn’t know where I’m trying to cut, he’s reacting of me… I’ll just slip right by him.”

0:04

Slip right by him is exactly what Nwangwu did and then he ran uncontested for 60 yards to the end zone.

“I knew after the kicker it was going to be a touchdown so I was looking back to find Dan Chisena to see if he was keeping up with me,” Nwangwu said.

0:08

Taking a kick back for a touchdown isn’t just about speed and vision, it’s about attitude. Nwangwu and the Vikings’ kick return unit wanted to show the 49ers that they were making a mistake by kicking the ball in play rather than booting it out of the back of the end zone. And that they did.

“For me and the team is giving me opportunities, I have a chip on my shoulder,” Nwangwu said. “These kickers in the NFL, they can kick it out of the end zone so if they’re going to put it in the field of play where we can take returns, they are pretty much saying our kickoff unit is better than your return unit. The whole day we were like, ‘We’re going to score on these guys.’”

0:12

Chisena is the first man to greet Nwangwu in the end zone with a high-five. The entire unit eventually joins in the end zone to celebrate their touchdown as Nwangwu catches his breath.

“The celebration, I’m exhausted, I ran over 100 yards,” Nwangwu said laughing. “I just throw the ball in front of my guys. The next day, when you do an explosive play on a special teams unit, the whole [unit] is excited to see it the next day.”

The Vikings’ returner said one of his favorite elements of returning is the group aspect of the play, even if one person gets the credit in the box score.

“It feels like a 4x1 relay, a lot of times this is how I explain it, it’s like there are 10 other guys on this field setting up one person,” Nwangwu said. “I feel like I’m the anchor leg on the 4x1 team and it brings me back to high school days running track. You just want to bring it back every single time for your guys, that’s how I feel when I’m back there.”

Postscript

Nwangwu’s acceleration and knack for finding gaps gives him a chance to translate his kick returning capability to more of an offensive role in 2022. His touches were limited last year by the presence of Dalvin Cook and an injury suffered in preseason. This time around new coach Kevin O’Connell may be in the business of finding blazing fast players ways to get the ball.

But Nwangwu will still get his chance to follow up his memorable opening season — if teams dare to kick the ball his way.

He certainly hopes they do.

“I feel like kickoff return is the most exciting play in a game,” Nwangwu said. “When you score a touchdown or get a huge return, either the stadium is quiet or it erupts.”