“He executed it flawlessly,” Melton said. “I mean, so much could have gone wrong. The pen could have been lost, maybe he doesn’t throw it as far as he did, but he nailed it.”

And it wasn’t lost on them at the time, but it was also pretty out-of-character for the young McCaffrey. He’s been around some pretty elaborate celebrators, but his post-touchdown rituals as a pro are muted, a few taps of the ball to honor family members, a quick point the sky, and he’s done.

But he was the little brother, hanging with the big kids, so they were able to talk him into anything.

“It was a lot of fun. Where we’re from, we were always taught not to celebrate,” McCaffrey said. “So going against the mascots at halftime, we finally had an opportunity to be able to kind of