It wasn’t Eric Fisher’s first touchdown — but it might have been the sweetest

On Monday night, Kansas City Chiefs left tackle Eric Fisher got one of the thrills of his life: catching a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes in the team’s 34-20 defeat of the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football.

With 8:19 remaining in the fourth quarter, Fisher reported as an eligible receiver on a first-and-goal at the Baltimore 2-yard line — something NFL teams will sometimes do to give the defense an extra receiver to worry about. The Chiefs added another wrinkle to the ruse, sending in Nick Allegretti as an extra blocker — telegraphing to the Ravens that a running play was likely.

“We had to go heavy personnel on that,” Fisher told reporters on Wednesday. “Once Andrew Wylie was down, I didn’t think there was a chance we were calling it. So it kind of surprised me — which might have been a good thing. That way, I wasn’t thinking about it the whole game.

“But when [the play] came in, I reported eligible — and luckily, kind of tricked the defense on the field there, [getting] wide open over there in the end zone. Patrick Mahomes made me work for that one a little bit — but it’s all right. We practice those kinds of things. It’s a memory I’ll have for life.”

It’s been a while since he’s had a chance to make such a memory.

Like many NFL players, Fisher played different positions during high school in Rochester Hills, Michigan. He scored a couple of touchdowns while playing quarterback his freshman year — but during his sophomore and junior years, he was shifted to outside linebacker. Even though he had become a defensive player, the team made room for Fisher as a tight end in a goal-line package for its Veer offense. Fisher said he believes he hadn’t had the ball in his hands in the end zone since then — and his friends and family were quick to congratulate him.

“I had a lot of texts,” he said. “It probably took me through Tuesday to get back to everybody; I try to do my best on that. Everyone was excited for me. I think one of the coolest stories about it is that my dad actually mentioned, ‘I wonder when the last time a tackle and a fullback scored in a game?’ I’d be curious on that — I have no idea. I really don’t know how to figure that stuff out.”

The last Chiefs offensive lineman to score a touchdown was Joe Valerio — he had four of them during his four-year career in Kansas City — on October 1, 1995.

That’s a red-letter date in Chiefs history for another reason, too. It was during that 24-3 defeat of the Arizona Cardinals that quarterback Steve Bono took a routine bootleg play around the right side and... well, sort of ran 76 yards for a touchdown. Years later, the play was immortalized in a memorable (and highly entertaining) SB Nation Dorktown video by Jon Bois and Alex Rubenstein. And yes... the Chiefs lineman who is waving his arms to get Bono up to speed as he lumbers down the field is Valerio.

“I think it was a pretty cool night for me and Anthony Sherman to get in the end zone — especially on Monday Night Football,” said Fisher. “It’s a memory I’ll cherish.”

So will we.