The Unwritten Story

"Well umm... This league is umm... very unforgiving and I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to still be able to play."

As the small town, blue collared, too short to play white boy stood on the podium, he did everything he could to fight back the tears he so badly wanted to release. It was all he had imagined and more. It was what he practiced and dreamed about in the backyard of a small town, on the line of Callahan and Taylor county, called Tuscola. 

You see, all people ever see is the man on Sunday. They see him in that moment and evaluate him on that day. They don't take into consideration years and years of dreams and work that built up to that exact moment. No one understood, when that kid ran on the field in the second half trailing the the Titans, what was running on the field with him. 

What was under those pads was a lost state championship in high school. A lost heisman not only his junior year but also his senior year. An injury on the first series of the biggest game in college football, the national championship. An injury that wouldn't allow him to finish a dream. An injury that would knock him into a third round draft pick and land him with the Cleveland Browns. There, he would realize the turmoil of an organization trying to build a new identity, only to become another one of the guinea pigs they call quarterbacks in Cleveland. He preceded to bite the bullet, take it like a champ, accept the blame and punishment, and go back to work. He packed his bags up and moved across the country to San Francisco, where he decided playing for Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers was more important than the 1.5 million dollars he was supposed to make that year. So, he decided to take a cut to league minimum and stay a part of a team that played for a championship. Never getting his opportunity, free agency came his way and believed a man named Jay Gruden. Believed him when he said he wanted him and needed him. Believed him when he told the kid we will keep three qb's no matter what. And also believed him when he said "I believe in you. You're a pro. Go win this game."

I'm talking about a kid named Colt McCoy. 

With so much failure in his life, he trotted on the field with confidence and poise that transformed through the rest of his team. Making audibles and throwing touchdowns, the Redskins came back and won the game. Though he was the winningest quarterback in College Football history for a time, I believe that game might be at the top of his list. 

As Colt stepped on the podium to address several cameras that would portray who Colt really is to the entire world, he let them do exactly that:

"The good Lord... I think, just takes care of me, and umm... I'm just thankful I'm here."

Maybe he sparked a team to new heights this year, or maybe he didn't. Maybe he starts the rest of the season, or then again, maybe he doesn't. But what we do learn, is that we all have the opportunity to fight and we all have the opportunity to control how things effect us. So, next time you are watching a guy live out his dreams on Saturday or Sunday, stop and appreciate for a quick moment the story behind the kid. Because that story has a lot of chapters, and we are just getting started!