One of the more memorable moments in the Raiders 24-13 win over the cross bay rival 49ers on Sunday was left tackle Donald Penn scoring a touchdown on a 3-yard reception. Not only did the touchdown catch put Penn in the record books but his leap into the Black Hole fulfilled a lifetime dream for Penn.
"I grew up a Raider fan," said Penn, a Los Angeles native. "That was always my dream to one day jump in that black hole. So, it was kinda nice. Everybody was coming to congratulate me and I'm like moving them out the way because I was straight headed to the hole. But it was good, I enjoyed it."
The entire team was upbeat about winning their second game of the season and the second in three weeks. Penn in particular had plenty to joke about with the work he did in keeping Aldon Smith out of the Raiders backfield all day along with getting to contribute to the offensive effort.
Penn took pride in the fact that he made the leap in one shot, laughing off the beer shower he took when he landed in the crowd.
"It was good, man, I almost tripped over the dang net on the way over there. Then when I came down, I was stuck in the net, I couldn't get out."
"Funny thing was I went with a little too much momentum so I almost fell back into it. They had to push me back up. They were trying to get the ball from me. I had that ball security, they were trying to knock the ball out my hands. That was fun. It was real fun, I enjoyed it, and I'm glad we were able to continue our drive throughout the game and score some more points."
Penn becomes the first ever offensive lineman to catch three touchdown passes in his career. He fought to not give up the ball to the fans because he was keeping it. He pointed to the ball in his locker saying it was going with the other two touchdown balls.
"I'm proud of that." Said Penn.
He is the first Raiders offensive lineman to catch a touchdown pass since Khalif Barnes caught one on November 7, 2010 against Kansas City. The two of them joked afterward about fighting for targets in the Raiders offense.
It's the kind of thing a team can only really celebrate in a big win.
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