Kindle Vildor, Tampa Bay’s reserve cornerback, pulled off quite a play on Monday Night Football. A sequence of stumbles, which became one of the highlights of the game, if not the highlight!
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The injury-riddled Bucs were hosting the San Francisco 49ers, who are still leaning on backup QB Mac Jones at the helm. Although, Jones had just led the Niners to a win over a strong LA Rams team last week. They improved to 4-1, looking sharp heading into Week 6, and confidence was running high.
But late in the first quarter, Vildor decided to crash the party. He read Jones like a book, jumped the route along the right sideline, and made a clean pick at the Niners’ 25-yard line. With an open field ahead, it looked like a sure pick-six… Straight to the paydirt. But that’s not what quite happened.
No 49ers players were even close to stopping Vildor. But, instead of gliding into the end zone, Vildor lost his footing and hit the turf.
Still, no one was around, and Vildor had time to get back up and finish the job. But he stumbled again. And again. When he finally secured the ball, a sure-fire highlight had turned into a comedy of errors.
It was only the second interception of Vildor’s six-year career, the last coming back in 2022. This ‘break’ could’ve been a big one for him.
But before anyone starts clowning him or drawing some wild comparisons to Trevor Lawrence’s infamous slips, Vildor had something to say. The cornerback reposted the clip of his interception on X (and the stumbles), captioning it, “Who [is] selling new cleats?”
That was a lighthearted jab, but a clear shot at Nike, whose cleats he’s known to wear. And apparently, the cleats were the culprit behind the missed touchdown.
Who selling new cleats? https://t.co/OxStQRVf5v
— Kindle Vildor (@ThePremier20) October 13, 2025
Raymond James Stadium, where the game was played, uses Tifway 419 Bermuda grass, which isn’t exactly known for causing slips and stumbles. And since he was at home, the turf clearly wasn’t the issue, so the cleats could have been the problem. Of course, it might have also been his overexcitement that led to the blunders and tumbles.
Vildor did manage a pass breakup later in the game, though. Overall, it was a solid performance, and that pick-six is bound to happen sooner rather than later. The Bucs won the game 30-19, bolstering their season’s record to 5-1.
