Daron Bland receives game ball following historic Thanksgiving game

It’s easy to tell how much a team likes a player by how they celebrate his success. The Dallas Cowboys love cornerback Daron Bland.

Bland made NFL history on Thanksgiving Day by running back his fifth pick-six of the season in the closing moments of the Cowboys’ win against the Washington Commanders.

Already leading 38-10, Bland cut off his receiver, picked off Commanders quarterback Sam Howell and joyously sprinted into the end zone to give the Cowboys a 45-10 lead with just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter.

@NFL HISTORY 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/fc1o7fcnK8

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 24, 2023

After the game, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy awarded Bland with game ball, exclaiming “NFL history.” The team erupted, patting Bland on the head and jostling him back and forth. In the holiday spirit, Bland thanked his team.

“Y’all know I’m a man of few words,” Bland said. “I appreciate y’all and thanks y’all. It was a great win.”

The Cowboys’ leader in interceptions last season with five, Bland is now the first player in NFL history to notch five pick-sixes in a single season, surpassing the record he tied just last week.

Only three other NFL players have grabbed four interceptions and returned those for a score in one season – Eric Allen (1993), Ken Houston (1971) and Jim Kearney (1972). Bland had seven games to get No. 5 but only needed one more.

Nothing new for Daron Bland

Over the last two seasons, Bland has recorded 12 interceptions. He began starting this season when the Cowboys lost Trevon Diggs to an ACL injury. Diggs, an All-Pro, had 14 in his first two seasons, including a league-leading 11 in his second season with Dallas.

After recording his fourth pick-six last week, Bland told reporters he was eager to break the record, but even more to be “remembered.”

“It just makes another goal to break it,” Bland said after the win over the Panthers, via DallasCowboys.com. “I think it was when I touched the end zone, it was like, ‘Wow, I just did it. I tied the record.’

“I’m level-headed now and I want to go break it. It wasn’t really about the record. It’s really about being in the history books, being remembered.”

The Cowboys drafted him with the No. 24 pick in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. After the injury to Anthony Brown last year, he proved to be a critical piece for Dallas. 

After starting the year 2-2, Dallas has rallied back to win four of its last five games, including last week’s 33-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers to improve its record to 7-3. With the win on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys move to 8-3, but still trail the 9-1 Philadelphia Eagles in the race for the NFC East.

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle also contributed to this article.