JUMP FOR JOY! David Wilson does a backflip after his 97-yard kickoff return TD in the first quarter (1), the first of three scores in yesterday’s 52-27 win over the Saints, including a 6-yard run (2) and a 52-yard scamper (3). (
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You can’t show the world a dog mentality until you are out of the coach’s doghouse, and David Wilson was unleashed last night on the NFL.
A 97-yard kickoff return touchdown, and backflip in the end zone.
A pair of rushing touchdowns, one for 6 yards, another for 52, both punctuated by backflips in the end zone.
A single-game franchise record of 327 total yards — 227 on kickoff returns, 100 on 13 carries. The first Giant since 1948 to have a kickoff return for a touchdown and a rushing touchdown.
Flip Wilson, no laughing matter to the Saints.
“I didn’t really look at records,” Wilson said after Giants 52, Saints 27. “That’s shocking, I think one was in 1948. … I don’t know if they had facemasks that long ago,” he said with a chuckle. “But I know my parents weren’t born. … That’s a long record that’s been there.”
Antrel Rolle demanded more bite this week, and Wilson delivered.
“He’s a pit. … He’s a pit bull,” Rolle said.
But wouldn’t Rolle consider himself the team pit bull?
“Nah, I’m giving him the pit bull status for the day,” Rolle said.
That’s the ultimate compliment, right?
“Ultimate compliment,” Rolle said. “I was a Rottweiler today, but he was a pit.”
This is not the same Wilson who incurred coach Tom Coughlin’s wrath by fumbling on opening night, who wasn’t going to earn the coaches’ trust until he had mastered the intricacies of blitz pickup. It was no small thing that Eli Manning congratulated him for picking up a free safety blitz either.
“I definitely don’t want to be the reason that we don’t get back to the playoffs or the Super Bowl,” Wilson said.
Wilson was snuggled inside a cabinet in the back of the interview room and waited patiently for Justin Tuck to finish on the podium. Tuck looked over at Wilson, who was wearing his ever-present smile.
“I don’t know what took him so long,” Tuck said of Wilson. “I think ’Trel said it best: He’s probably the best athlete on this team. You see him when he scores a touchdown, he does cartwheels and backflips, and I’ve been telling him to stop doing that, but he does it with ease. … And now that it’s on tape, we’re gonna expect it from him every game.”
Wilson had come close on several occasions this season to taking a kickoff to the house. He was close on his 58-yarder on the opening kickoff then again on a 52-yarder.
“He’s always been just a fraction away from breaking it all year long,” Rolle said. “And it’s something that the guys have been pushing for, and more importantly, the guys have his back, and we’re constantly pushing him, you know, ‘David, you can do it, you can do it,’ and he knows he can do it.”
Manning had thrown a pick-6 when Wilson lit up the night.
“This week on every return that I did in practice, it looked pretty good,” Wilson said. “And before the special teams meeting before the game, Coach [Tom Quinn] hands out assignment sheets, and this game he didn’t hand me one. So I went back, and I said, ‘Coach, where’s my assignment sheet?’ He said, ‘You don’t need one, just run fast.’ I think I’m done with those assignment sheets.”
Not even Tiki Barber had this kind of breakaway ability.
“When holes open up like that, I just thank God for giving me the speed to take advantage,” Wilson said.
So do his teammates.
“We will watch him in practice just do amazing things, whether it be breaking plays, or making cuts that we only see guys that are Hall of Famers make,” Victor Cruz said.
Wilson, Next Man Up behind banged-up Ahmad Bradshaw after Andre Brown (knee) went down, can be a lethal weapon for Manning (four TDs, two INTs).
“The more touches you give him, the more opportunities he’s gonna have to break a big one,” Manning said.
Coughlin has grown to love Flip Wilson, who fell asleep watching Bo Jackson highlights Saturday night.
“The timing is right,” Coughlin said. “The timing is right.”
Indeed. The Redskins and Cowboys already had scored comeback victories. Coughlin will sign up for one salsa from Cruz, and three backflips from Wilson every time.
“With his salsa, you gotta have coordination,” Wilson said. “Not that many people can dance and not that many can flip, so … I think they both have their own little spice.”
Saint David.
steve.serby@nypost.com