Revis gives Lay a day he’ll never forget

The Pitt special teams unit is more or less the reason they put automatic defibrillators in… The Pitt special teams unit is more or less the reason they put automatic defibrillators in hallways.

In one game, they allow blocked field goals at Nebraska; in another they’ll block a punt; in another they’ll give up a blocked punt. It’s pretty rough on the heart.

But not on Saturday. Instead of giving fans the usual series of jitters, the unit gave Pitt its most heartwarming moment of the season in a 24-0 shutout of Connecticut.

Among the 18 seniors dressing in the Heinz Field locker room for the last time was Bernard “Josh” Lay. The day already held special meaning – it was Lay’s final home game – but it became even more special late in the first half.

With 5:07 left in the second quarter, the Huskies lined up for a field goal. Darrelle Revis got a good jump on the snap, broke through the right side of UConn’s line, and – without leaving his feet – blocked the kick. Wannstedt made sure to note how effortlessly Revis got in front of the kick.

“He got a great jump on it,” Wannstedt said. “He’s a good player. I mean, let’s not kid ourselves.”

It bounced toward the sidelines, and right in front of Revis and Lay, who had also broken through.

Anybody else sees the ball, picks it up and runs it in for a touchdown. But Revis saw the ball, then saw something else.

“I was about to pick the ball up,” he said, “but then I saw blue out of the corner of my eye, No. 12,” he said in reference to Lay’s number.

In the split-second that followed, Revis had a decision to make.

“During the play, he said, ‘Josh, get it, get it! It’s your day!'” Lay said.

So he did. He picked it up, and he and Revis were off. They streaked down the sideline, college teammates, high school teammates, friends. For 71 yards, Revis escorted Lay to the goal line, where he gave the senior a playful shove.

“I said, ‘Reel it in! Reel it in for the touchdown!'” Revis said. “It’s great, two guys from a hometown making the plays.”

In the previous two weeks, ESPN has had no shortage of footage from Terrell Owens press conferences. Go ahead and count the number of times he says “I” or “me.”

And now look at Revis, whose first instinct is to give it to Lay.

A football player has to think of a lot during a kick block: He has to be worried about timing his rush right to get a good jump, think about how he’s going to get around the tank-sized individual in front of him who wants nothing more than to take out his legs, try to time his jump right-the list goes on.

Yet after all of that, Revis saw a touchdown in front of him, and passed on it to let Lay, friend and mentor, return it. Lay hoped to return the favor to Revis, to plant a devastating block on a punt return while Revis – the Panthers’ punt returner – took one in for a score. But the opportunity never presented itself.

“We wanted to get a punt return for a touchdown,” Revis admitted, trying to suppress a chuckle, “but you know – the punter was kicking them a little short.”

It didn’t matter. The touchdown was enough for the team, as it woke up a lethargic crowd and gave spark to a less-than-stellar game. It couldn’t have come at a better time during the contest, but it also couldn’t have come in front of a better audience.

Lay hails from nearby Aliquippa, and on this day, the town came out in droves to see both him and Revis, who hails from the same town.

Wannstedt saw the scores of Aliquippa residents, and couldn’t believe that so many people had turned out.

“There were a thousand kids in here from Aliquippa!” he joked afterwards. “[Revis] is trying to catch balls [in warm-ups], and they’re bouncing off people, kids are reaching in front of him.”

Revis couldn’t confirm the thousand, but did say that since it was senior day, they tried to pull as many people from Aliquippa as they could. The efforts didn’t go unnoticed.

“There’s only about 200 people in Aliquippa, and there were probably 198 here,” an appreciative Lay said.

They picked the right game to attend.

Lay didn’t stop with the field goal. On top of six tackles, he added a highlight-reel interception in the end zone, a one-armed snare that he hauled in for a touchback.

Lay’s spectacular day capped a great career, but Revis presented a great example for all of the young fans.

T.O. (among others) whines about his dire money situations, Freddy Adu whines about playing time even while his team is in the playoffs, Ricky Davis shoots at his own basket to get a rebound – these are the things we see on SportsCenter. This is what gets news.

And then there’s Revis, who goes and does something that shows every sports fan that there are people out there who aren’t worried about their own stats or status.

All Lay could do after the game was smile.

“Words can’t speak for it,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade this game for anything.”

Neither would we, Josh.

Brian Weaver is the assistant sports editor for The Pitt News. E-mail him at bweaves_pittnews@hotmail.com.