The Green Bay Packers have made history by leading the NFL in having the most so-called “octopi.” This sounds a bit strange, but there's an explanation.
According to Sports Illustrated, an octopus is someone who scores both a touchdown and a two-point conversion in the same game. Rob Moore and Torrence Small scored the first two octopi, on the same day in 1994. Moore and Terance Mathis became the first to accomplish the feat twice in a career, on the same day in 1996. Ryan Mathews was the first to do it twice in one season, in 2016.
And it's in this newly-coined term — originally postulated by Mitch Goldich — that Green Bay leads the, well, pack.
But there are a few more postulations to the octopus that Goldich mentioned, as well.
Goldich added the disclaimer that he is counting only the person “who is actually credited with the points scored”; i.e., a quarterback only registers an “octopus” if he scores a rushing touchdown followed by a two-point conversion on the ground.
Goldich pointed out that the 23 players who have recorded multiple “octopi” in their career “is actually a star-studded collection of greats” over the past 25 years.
In addition to Green Bay leading the proverbial pack, there are a few other people that are considered as octopi, as well. Among the better-known ones are Hall of Famers like Jerome Bettis and Terrell Davis (whose pair of octopi includes the first one in the postseason); stars like Calvin Johnson, Isaac Bruce, Edgerrin James and Hines Ward; Pro Bowlers like Randall Cobb, Greg Olsen and Matt Forte; and active stars Antonio Brown and Alvin Kamara.
Go Packers!
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