Like Frank Reich, Vikings’ Kirk Cousins plans to use an epic comeback to inspire others

Chris Tomasson, Pioneer Press
Updated ·4 min read
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After leading the Vikings to the greatest comeback win in NFL history last Saturday, quarterback Kirk Cousins received a lot of congratulatory text messages. One stood out.

Former NFL quarterback Frank Reich reached out to say he was proud of Cousins. Reich led Buffalo from 32 points down to a 41-38 overtime playoff win over the Houston Oilers on Jan. 3, 1993. The Bills were knocked out of the record book when the Vikings came back from a 33-0 halftime deficit to stun Indianapolis 39-36 in overtime at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“Frank did send me a text, and it was just pure class,” Cousins said Tuesday. “And he just said, ‘Kirk, for 30 years that comeback … has given me an opportunity to share my faith with thousands of people, it’s given me an opportunity to inspire many people,’ and he said today the torch was passed. And I take that seriously.”

The deeply religious Reich, who was the Colts’ head coach until being fired Nov. 7, long has used Buffalo’s comeback in speeches. Reich, who in 1984 led Maryland back from a 31-point deficit to defeat Miami 42-40, also had been the quarterback behind the biggest comeback in college football history until Michigan State overcame a 38-3 deficit to defeat Northwestern 41-38 in 2006..

Cousins, whose Vikings (11-3) next face the New York Giants (8-5-1) at noon Saturday at home, said he plans to use Minnesota’s comeback in a similar manner to the way Reich has for decades.

“It does give you that opportunity to hopefully do what sports in general does, which is to inspire people, to uplift people, to encourage people, especially young people, and hopefully be able to use that as an example,” Cousins said. “Who knows? Maybe for another 30 years before the torch gets passed (again). And certainly with who Frank is, the person he is, the example that he set, it kind of set a high bar for that.”

Cousins said he has met Reich at “a couple of Super Bowl events” but doesn’t know him well. He hopes that will change.

“In exchanging texts, (I) would like to connect with him this offseason,” Cousins said.

Reich didn’t return a message from the Pioneer Press on Tuesday. Former Bills wide receiver Don Beebe, a good friend of Reich’s, spoke in a phone interview about how Reich has used the comeback against the Oilers in the hope of inspiring others about “never giving up.”

Beebe is the father of wide receiver Chad Beebe, who played for the Vikings from 2018-21, and he got to know Cousins a bit during that period since his son and the quarterback have the same agent. Beebe was Reich’s teammate on the Bills from 1989-94 and caught one of the four touchdowns passes he threw in the second half of the playoff game against the Oilers.

“With Frank, it’s like a daily occurrence,” Beebe said of people bringing up the game to Reich over the years. “And Frank’s always used that story when he publicly speaks. He uses that story as a metaphor to what he’s saying. I’ve seen him do that a lot. … It was really cool how a football game could be used as a metaphor for life. That changed Frank’s life. That changed so many people’s lives.”

Beebe said he hasn’t communicated with Cousins since his son left the Vikings, but he regularly texts with Cousins’ father Don, the lead pastor at Discovery Church in Orlando, Fla. Beebe said he would welcome talking to Cousins at some point about how he plans to use last Saturday’s comeback as a metaphor.

Like Reich, Cousins threw all four of his touchdown passes in the second half of his comeback victory. He completed 34 of 54 passes for 460 yards, including an NFL-record 417 yards after halftime.

“That’s crazy,” Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw said. “Kirk was flawless in the second half.”

Cousins shrugged off his late-game statistical showing, saying he was just “playing and reacting and trying to put points on the board as fast as you can.” He said this week he is trying to leave behind the epic comeback to “get right back to work and focus on the Giants.”

But there will come a time when Cousins, like Reich, uses the comeback in the hope of inspiring others.

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