When Minnesota United FC goalkeeper Sammy Ndjock let in a horrific own goal against EPL side AFC Bournemouth, it led to a maelstrom of activity for the United staff. Within 18 hours, the club watched video of the goal go viral and released their own joking response that itself went viral. Here’s the story from inside the club.
The ball clung for dear life to Sammy Ndjock’s glove. It was hesitation as Jordan Ibe advanced; it was humidity stuck to every molecule in the air; and it was, let’s face it, a terrible goalkeeping error. After the ball left his glove, Sammy desperately pounced to keep it out of the net, but fate’s die had already been cast against him.
The air sucked out of the stadium and there was a wave of speechless faces turned toward one another. Eyes were wide and heads were shaking.
“Like everyone, I was in disbelief,” Brad Baker says a few days later. Baker is the senior director of video production for Minnesota United FC. Because the team wasn’t streaming the match, he was working with a bare-bones staff and only producing highlights. He was up in the video booth at the time, directing, running graphics for the in-stadium board, and editing; he was not paying full attention. But the goal stopped him. “What is going on?” he asked at the time.
By the end of the match, the video going around on the internet showed the video replay from across the stadium — not the sort of video that Sport Center would show.
The insane own goal that Sammy just scored on himself, as seen from a replay across the field at #MNUvBOU pic.twitter.com/Fmn5FzFnSs
— Matt Privratsky (@MattPrivratsky) July 21, 2016
https://vine.co/v/5ZYj3BTwPwF
When he went to bed that night, Baker was afraid that goal would be the story of the game. Not the players, or the teams, or the great night of soccer, but just Ndjock’s mistake. By the next morning, good tape of the goal was being shown on television in Australia, Turkey, England, and beyond. The Daily Mail called it the “Worst own goal EVER.”
“My inbox was full of requests from other media outlets who wanted permission or interviews. That’s when I knew that this was going to be a big, big thing.”
Baker says that when he woke up, he was inundated with media requests: “Not only did I see that all these other media outlets were using it, but my inbox was full of requests from other media outlets who wanted permission or interviews. That’s when I knew that this was going to be a big, big thing.”
United’s president, Nick Rogers, was sitting in the stands when the goal went in and he remembers immediately “feeling sick for Sammy. It was just a freakish mistake.”
That response — thinking of Ndjock — was also Baker’s before he saw how big it had become. “Listen,” he says, “this is a disaster for Sammy.” So he started thinking about comedic bits, something to change the story.
When Baker spoke to Ndjock, the goalkeeper was desperately trying to move on. Ndjock’s thinking — as Baker summarizes — was, “Yeah it was embarrassing, but it was a friendly. It didn’t cost us a championship or any points.”
When Baker and United’s director of public relations, Eric Durkee, approached Ndjock, it was to see if he would be willing to be in a video — they didn’t know what yet. Sammy seemed receptive, wanting to get that idea out there — “this was bad, but not that bad.” But as Baker knew, “Nobody wants to shoot a video of someone standing in front of the camera.” And so Baker started pitching some of the comedic video ideas he had come up with.
“At first, we were talking about Sammy eating popcorn, because of the whole butterfingers thing. But the ball stuck in the game and I know the players eat peanut butter and jelly after regen practices, so we went with jelly.”
“Ours is a storytelling business. Here’s a case where there’s a big story going on. By us putting our spin we changed it from something shameful or embarrassing to turning the page or an aspect of redemption.”
By 11 a.m. — around 15 hours after Ndjock’s own goal — Baker was on his way up to training at the National Sports Center, with a camera, a loaf of bread, and a jar of jelly. By 4 p.m., the video was edited and published.
Neither Baker nor Rogers will admit to any sort of fear for the club’s reputation in the wake of a viral video of the “worst own goal EVER.” Rogers, in fact, will quibble with the term viral. But less than 24 hours later, the club released a video that humorously blamed Sammy having accidentally slathered his gloves in jelly just before kick off. The hashtag #BlameItOnTheJelly followed.
PSA: always wait at least 30 minutes after eating jelly sandwiches before hitting the pitch… #BlameItOnTheJelly pic.twitter.com/sGDKxfvLNE
— Minnesota United FC (@MNUFC) July 21, 2016
Rogers says it was an instant hit. “Feedback was 100% positive,” he says, “I had team executives and a senior executive of a major sports network reaching out and telling me how great it was.”
For Baker, it was about offering Ndjock some relief. The Loons were heading into a weekend league matchup with Fort Lauderdale and no one wanted a cloud of anxiety over the starting goalkeeper. Baker says the video released the tension and brought fans to Sammy’s support.
Rogers puts an executive turn to it: “Ours is a storytelling business. Here’s a case where there’s a big story going on. By us putting our spin, we changed it from something shameful or embarrassing to turning the page or an aspect of redemption. The theme of the story is much more positive and I think that’s what evoked the response from people.”
On the weekend, head coach Carl Craig opted to start backup goalkeeper, Steward Ceus, for Ndjock. After the match, he explained: “I told Sammy, ‘That happens, but I need to break the state you are in. I need to hit the reset button. You’re still part of the squad, I’m not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.’” But as Ndjock took his place on the bench, applause from throughout the main stands followed him.
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