Top 25 NFL moments of first 25 years of the 2000s: From Aaron Rodgers' Hail Mary to Super Bowl helmet catch

The NFL isn't just about star players, splashy moves and Super Bowl contenders. It's also about great stories.

Isn't that why we watch football in the first place? To witness the rise of underdogs? The construction and inevitable toppling of powerhouses? The bumpy and thrilling journey that every team -- every player, every coach, every fan -- undergoes from September through January (and hopefully February)?

Sports at their best aren't just a mindless distraction from daily life. They are in fact the opposite. They are compelling stories, woven on the green grass of stadiums brimming with the roaring support of communities who've come together -- from all walks of life -- to champion a similar cause.

And every once in a while, during this annual drama, the NFL comes through with a moment. A catch. A score. A rant. A title. An occurrence that stops the sports world in its tracks and, eventually, cements itself into history.

In celebration and anticipation of the next season -- the next opportunity for timeless memories to be made -- here are some of the top 25 NFL moments of the first 25 years of the 2000s:

Honorable mention

• Justin Jefferson's one-hander (2023): In the pantheon of ridiculous catches, this might be atop the entire list, and it was just one part of a wild back-and-forth between the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings.
• Damar Hamlin's return (2023): Not everyone can say they suffered cardiac arrest on a football field and came back to play the next year. But that will forever be the Bills safety's story.
• Saints' surprise onside kick (2010): Sean Payton's team also appears on the list below, but New Orleans' successful special teams gamble helped jumpstart a Super Bowl XLIV victory.
• Tedy Bruschi's return (2005): Nearly two decades before Hamlin, the AFC East produced another medical miracle, with the New England Patriots linebacker suiting up eight months after a stroke.
• 4th-and-26 (2003): A defining moment of the Philadelphia Eagles' Andy Reid era, Donovan McNabb converted an unfathomable first-down pass to help down the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs.
• Jim Mora's playoffs rant (2001): The Colts coach was absolutely incredulous that reporters would entertain a postseason bid after his team just lost to the San Francisco 49ers. "Are you kidding me?!"
• Antonio Freeman's catch (2000): Monday night overtime football between the Packers and Vikings? Freeman made it even juicier by corralling a lofted Brett Favre pass while falling to the ground, in the rain, to win it.

25. Barkley's Backwards Hurdle (2024)

Everyone's seen a nice leapfrog, but Saquon Barkley set a new standard in the midst of an MVP-caliber showcase in his Philadelphia Eagles debut. All year, Barkley was a runaway train en route to a Super Bowl title, but his clean no-look clearing of the Jacksonville Jaguars' Jarrian Jones was so iconic it ended up on the next "Madden" cover. Just wait until countless people get hurt trying to replicate it.

24. Tim Tebow's Walk-Off (2012)

Tebow Mania was short-lived at the NFL level, as the former Florida great started just 14 total games for the Denver Broncos. But not even No. 15's notoriously erratic arm could overshadow the playoff magic of his strike to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers. When Thomas burned Pittsburgh for 80 yards, the game-winning score felt like destiny for Denver's polarizing bunch.

23. The 13-Second Drive (2022)

Bring up the ongoing AFC rivalry between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, and someone's mind is bound to race right to the divisional playoffs shootout that headlined the 2021 season. Four lead changes in the final two minutes was wacky enough. Then Patrick Mahomes needed just two plays and 13 seconds after Josh Allen's would-be game-winning touchdown pass to hand Buffalo its latest heartbreak.

22. Michael Vick's Walk-Off (2002)

There's speed, and then there's Michael Vick speed. The historic dual threat was already well-known by the time he took the field against the Minnesota Vikings in a December matchup at the Metrodome, but his 46-yard game-winning sprint didn't just lift the Atlanta Falcons in overtime; it confirmed him as the most dynamic playmaker at his position ... and made a few Vikings defenders look silly in the process.

21. Tom Brady Unretires (2022)

Brady is directly or indirectly involved in a handful of these moments; that's what happens when you make 10 (!) career Super Bowl appearances. But few of his feats were as simultaneously jarring and exciting as the day he announced his return to the NFL ... just 40 days after hanging up the cleats. Brady was 45 at the time, but no one batted an eye at his decision. He was that much of an ageless anomaly under center.

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20. Miracle at the New Meadowlands (2010)

The New York Giants were in between Super Bowl titles during the 2010 season, but the rival Philadelphia Eagles enjoyed an early Christmas miracle in December, when Giants punter Matt Dodge infamously booted the ball to DeSean Jackson (against Coughlin's wishes), only to watch the shifty wideout streak 65 yards for a game-ending score, completing a 21-point fourth-quarter comeback with flair.

19. Dennis Green's Rant (2006)

Sometimes it's the soundbite that does all the work. Green built a sterling resume as a pioneering leader and perennial playoff contender atop the Vikings' staff in the 1990s, but he is perhaps best -- and lovingly -- known for the passion he brought to the podium after his Arizona Cardinals blew a 20-point lead to the Chicago Bears in prime time. Typically soft-spoken, he was must-see TV after this one.

18. Sherman vs. Crabtree (2014)

Speaking of must-see TV, Richard Sherman all but immortalized the Seattle Seahawks' "Legion of Boom" secondary with his coverage -- and subsequent chatter -- against San Francisco 49ers wideout Michael Crabtree in the NFC Championship. Tipping a would-be touchdown pass was grand enough, ensuring Seattle would advance to Super Bowl XLVIII, but then he had to bury his opponent for good measure.

17. Tracy Porter's Pick Six (2010)

The 2009 New Orleans Saints were later penalized for their infamous bounty program, but they also served as a beacon of real hope for a city devasted by Hurricane Katrina a few years earlier. And their euphoric climb under Sean Payton and Drew Brees reached a fever pitch when Porter easily jumped a Peyton Manning pass in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIV, sealing the team's first Lombardi Trophy.

16. The River City Relay (2003)

There was nothing inherently special about a late-December matchup between two measly Jaguars and Saints teams. Until the Saints used not one, not two, but three laterals on the final play from scrimmage -- initially a short pass from Aaron Brooks -- to threaten a comeback in the game's final seven seconds. The improbability of Jerome Pathon's score was topped only by John Carney's ensuing extra-point miss.

15. The Minneapolis Miracle (2018)

Pretty much the entire 2017 Vikings season was a miracle, considering journeyman Case Keenum had replaced an injured Sam Bradford to quarterback Minnesota all the way to the playoffs, giving the Vikes a chance to become the first team to host a Super Bowl in their own stadium. Keenum's last-gasp lob to Stefon Diggs, who inexplicably found wide-open green turf against the Saints, was simply their pinnacle.

14. Favre's Dad Game (2003)

Tragedy struck Brett Favre when his father, Irv, suffered a fatal heart attack while driving at the age of 58. The response, however, was legendary: The Green Bay Packers great didn't just suit up for a Monday night game against the Oakland Raiders a day later, extending a record streak of games played; the gunslinger also lit up the stage with four scores in a prime-time showing for the ages.

13. Favre's Lambeau Return (2009)

Six years after the world cheered him on during his inspirational Monday night rout, Favre got a roaring chorus of boos by running onto the Lambeau Field grass representing the rival Minnesota Vikings. How could No. 4 -- our No. 4 -- truly wear purple, Packers fans wondered in their jeers. Yet Favre unleashed an epic back-and-forth with successor Aaron Rodgers, lifting Minnesota on his old stomping grounds.

12. Devin Hester's Kick Return (2007)

Super Bowl XLI was a lot of things: Peyton Manning's first championship, the first Super Bowl matchup of African-American coaches, etc. But the defining moment may well have been the first, with Chicago Bears return man Devin Hester doing what he did best and racing the opening kickoff 92 yards for a score, sprinting through rain and past countless Colts to give Windy City instant hope for a big-game upset.

11. Odell's One-Hander (2014)

Odell Beckham Jr. was absent to open his career with the Giants, missing most of his first offseason, plus New York's first four games, due to injury. By the end of the year, he was literally in the Hall of Fame, his No. 13 jersey displayed on account of his unbelievable one-handed grip on a deep shot from Eli Manning against the rival Dallas Cowboys. This thing was so acrobatic it became something of a movement.

10. Aaron Rodgers' Hail Mary (2016)

Rodgers may be aging and greying now, trying to end things on a winning note with the Pittsburgh Steelers. At his prime, the Packers great was one of the clutch playmakers of his time. Look no further than the divisional playoffs battle with the Cardinals to close Green Bay's 2015 season, in which he rocketed not one but two straight Hail Mary shots to Jeff Janis, threatening a last-minute Packers win for the ages.

9. The Philly Special (2018)

The Eagles recently dominated Super Bowl LIX and also went toe to toe with the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII two years earlier. But their first modern championship was the sweetest for its undercurrent of unlikely destiny. Facing a fourth-and-goal against the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots dynasty, overlooked coach Doug Pederson dialed up an all-time call that let backup-turned-hero quarterback Nick Foles haul in a critical pass for himself.

8. Music City Miracle (2000)

The Bills are no strangers to big-game heartbreak, as we mentioned earlier. Their 1999 season was spoiled in January 2000, when the Tennessee Titans used a long lateral pass from Frank Wycheck to Kevin Dyson on the game's final kickoff to pull off a stunning 75-yard walk-off return touchdown. The only thing that mars the miracle in hindsight is the fact the Titans had another stunner coming (see below).

7. Yard Short (2000)

It says something about this moment that it's remembered most for what could have been rather than what was. Super Bowl XXXIV was a historic triumph for the "Greatest Show on Turf" St. Louis Rams, who became an improbable legend of the game as MVP. But it was the Titans' near-miss that resonated as deeply as the Rams' last-second goal-line stand, which left Kevin Dyson stretching and stretching but never quite reaching glory.

6. Malcolm Butler's Goal-Line Pick (2015)

The Seahawks looked like world-beaters after stomping all over Peyton Manning's Broncos to cap the 2013 season. They were poised to go back-to-back with a goal-line opportunity against the Patriots late in Super Bowl XLIX. And then Pete Carroll infamously let Russell Wilson uncork a throw rather than hand the rock to the bludgeon Marshawn Lynch. Butler's split-second pick to end the game left Seattle's sideline aghast.

5. Santonio Holmes' Game-Winner (2009)

The magnitude of the moment matters, as you may have seen on this list already. And this was literally do or die for the Steelers, who saw the Cardinals score 16 unanswered points to lead Super Bowl XLIII. With 43 seconds left, Ben Roethlisberger let it rip to the back right corner of the end zone, and Holmes somehow managed to wiggle past triple coverage, secure the laser and plant his feet in-bounds on the way to the ground.

4. James Harrison's Pick Six (2009)

If Santonio Holmes sealed the Steelers' Super Bowl XLIII victory, then Harrison headlined the championship effort with one of the most athletic plays ever to occur on the game's biggest stage. A hulking presence at over 240 pounds, the linebacker didn't just intercept Kurt Warner to thwart a would-be Cardinals score right before halftime; he proceeded to truck his way across the entire field for maybe the most rugged pick six of all time.

3. The Beast Quake (2011)

Did the Seahawks win the Super Bowl this year? Were they even a top title contender? The truth is, it doesn't really matter now, because Marshawn Lynch's defining wild-card touchdown rumble against the Saints was a "where were you" kind of moment. Rarely has a player exuded so much nasty authority on a single play. Seahawks fan or not, you simply had to stop what you were doing, mouth ajar, to relive this one on the replay.

2. Brady's 28-3 Comeback (2017)

You could substitute this for one of the improbable moments within, such as Julian Edelman's diving catch between a trio of Atlanta Falcons defenders. But the fact is the entire game was the story. The Falcons still haven't really lived it down. Matt Ryan and Co. were cruising to open Super Bowl LI, looking like virtual locks to embarrass the powerhouse Patriots. And then, of course, Tom Brady happened, chipping and chipping away until the first overtime victory in Super Bowl history. This was the ultimate confirmation that you never say never.

1. The Helmet Catch (2008)

Everything about this was legendary. The Giants weren't just in the Super Bowl against the Patriots. They were looking to halt history, trying as underdogs to spoil New England's bid for the first perfect NFL season in more than 30 years. They were trailing in the final two minutes. And then Eli Manning escaped the tugs of a Patriots pass rush and sent the ball to the skies in desperation, only for David Tyree to go up and come down with the pigskin pinned to his blue helmet in what some might've perceived as proof of divine intervention. The miracle propelled the Giants to finish the drive and hoist the trophy, ensuring forever the Patriots would be remembered as 18-1.