A live-TV punch inspired Ian Eagle to rebrand the peanut punch in honor of Nantz
A new name on CBS
Late in the first quarter of Sunday’s Colts-Vikings game, Indianapolis cornerback Justin Walley punched the ball from Vikings running back Aaron Jones. Ross Tucker praised the 24-year-old for executing a classic Peanut Punch.
Ian Eagle suggested a different label, tying the play to recent events at CBS. “No, they’re calling it the Jim Nantz,” Eagle said during the broadcast.
Nantz’s attempt with Watt
The previous Sunday, J.J. Watt discussed how ball carriers protect themselves by locking the wrist of the hand holding the ball. He described the Peanut Punch as a technique popularized by Charles “Peanut” Tillman to force fumbles.
Watt then asked 67-year-old Nantz to stand and try punching a football from his hands. Nantz’s punch did not loosen Watt’s grip, and Tucker said Watt had maintained good contact and ball security.
Wrist injury and recovery
Nantz kept his wrist under an ice pack for the rest of that broadcast and gave himself a questionable tag. Watt confirmed Sunday that Nantz would work the Bengals-Ravens game despite the pain.
Walley, by contrast, forced a fumble on his first attempt. The article described his play as the most successful “Jim Nantz” in CBS history.
Key points
- Ian Eagle called Walley’s forced fumble the “Jim Nantz” during CBS’s Colts-Vikings broadcast.
- Walley knocked the ball from Aaron Jones’s arm late in the first quarter.
- Nantz failed to dislodge the football from J.J. Watt’s hands and injured his wrist.
- Watt said Sunday that Nantz would work the Bengals-Ravens game.