During a rainy divisional playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy went viral for wiping his hand dry after snapping the ball on Fox television.
Purdy explained his unusual behavior to NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.
While the numbers show that Purdy completed 23-of-39 passes for 252 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions against Green Bay, he visibly struggled to deal with the elements up until he connected on 6-of-7 pass attempts for 47 yards during what became a late game-winning drive.
Purdy has appeared to struggle with getting a good grip on the ball at times tonight. pic.twitter.com/Rsx6Rve7ah
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 21, 2024
As Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area pointed out, the 24-year-old tried wearing a glove on his throwing hand but had discarded it long before he made his biggest throws of a thrilling 24-21 victory.
“Got to find a way,” Purdy added during his chat with Breer. “Definitely played a factor in the beginning. That’s football.”
Nervous San Francisco fans will likely be happy to know that the NFL Weather and RotoWire websites showed as of early Tuesday evening that the forecast for this coming Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the Detroit Lions and the 49ers indicated that Purdy and company will enjoy relatively dry conditions at Levi’s Stadium.
Also on Tuesday, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Niners as seven-point favorites to defeat the Lions and advance to Super Bowl LVIII.
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