Pro footballer runs to stands to give mom the ball after pick-six

Chiefs safety Eric Berry said he had a hard time keeping his emotions in check during his first game back in Atlanta as a professional football player. Those sentiments certainly didn’t seem to affect his play.

Berry, the former Atlanta-area high school standout, returned an interception for a touchdown and ran back a pick on a two-point conversion attempt for the decisive points in the 29-28 victory.

“I shed a few tears before the game, I shed a few during the game, and I shed a few after,” Berry said. “I think I held it together pretty good but it was a lot of emotions so I just tried to contain them and let it show through my plays.”

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It was Berry’s first time back in the city since he received chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2014. Berry has been cancer-free for two years.

Berry’s pick-six staked the Chiefs to a 20-13 lead late in the first half. Berry broke for the ball as Matt Ryan tried to pass to Taylor Gabriel and then ran along the left sideline for a 37-yard touchdown.

Berry said extensive film study with Chiefs assistant Emmitt Thomas helped him anticipate the play. After scoring the touchdown, Berry handed the ball to his mother in the stands.

“I made my mind up before the game that I was going to give her the ball when I got it,” Berry said. “I try to give her whatever. It won’t amount to the things she has given me, and my dad as well. There were so many nights that I would cry on their shoulder, trying to make sense of everything that was going on, and they just kept telling me to keep pressing on and that I would be back to play the game the way I want to play.”

Berry ended up with the ball again on the failed two-point conversion by the Falcons. Similar to his first interception, Berry broke for the ball as Ryan delivered, this time stepping in front of Falcons tight end Austin Hooper.

There was no official yardage on the non-timed down but Berry caught the ball near the goal line and ran untouched to the opposite end zone.

“It was a poor play on my part,” Ryan said. “I expected a combination coverage to the outside and Eric Berry did a good job of coming down and going to the tight end.”