With Monday being Veterans Day, I wanted to take a quick second to thank everyone of the over 16.2 million veterans that keep the United States safe for I can sit here and do stupid shit like this. You are truly the real heroes so thank you from the bottom of heart. But it got me thinking of the unlikely heroes throughout this world like, the person who helps an elderly woman with a bag full of groceries cross the street during rush hour traffic. Someone who holds the elevator door open for a young man running late for his first day as a sales rep for Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream. The waiter who cut me off at Olive Garden when I was on my 32nd bread stick in 32 minutes.
“This has to be some kind of a record.”
“It’s endless breadsticks, not end your life breadsticks.”
“F-Off those are my breadsticks.”
“Sir… Sir… Trust me, I’ve seen how this ends and you’ll thank me later.”
Sunday's NFL slate of games was full of unlikely heroes making play after play that helped propel their teams to much needed victories. Let’s start in the most obvious place with Baker Mayfield’s left arm. Baker should take his left arm out for a nice massage, filled with essential oils and a 6’8” man named Bruce after it held off one of the best defensive ends in the league Nick Bosa from sacking him. This 3- to 4-second-long stiff arm allowed just enough time for the right arm of Baker to complete a 9-yard pass to Rachaad White on 4th and 7 with about 1:45 left on the clock to keep the game tying drive alive late in the 4th quarter. Tom Brady on the broadcast was quoted in saying,
“That’s one of the best plays I’ve ever seen a quarterback make.”
I might have to agree with the below average broadcaster. To hold off that beast of a man in that situation just tells you how much competitive fire Baker has deep within his heart. The Bucs went on to lose the game to the 49ers on a Jake Moody 44-yard field goal, but Baker proved something more than a win, that the Bucs aren’t going away even with one arm tied behind their back.
The unlikely heroes didn’t stop there. After The Denver Broncos drove down the field in the final minutes to set up a 35-yard attempt to win the game with 1 second left, the Chiefs undefeated season looked like it was going to be trampled over. But The Kansas City defensive line was the one that did the trampling over. The whole entire left side of the Broncos offensive line was laying on the ground as the unlikely bottom half of Leo Chenal’s palm flew up in the air to block Wil Lutz’s kick and seal one of the most improbable wins that I’ve ever witnessed. But this seems to be a common theme with The Chiefs this year. They are winning game after game that they shouldn’t be winning. I was telling my buddy before the Broncos lined up for the kick, “if the Chiefs win this game, they are going undefeated this year.” Nothing can stop this team, not 35-yard field goal, not Ravens right talon, not even everyone thinking the refs are rigging the games in their favor. I’m telling you there is something strange happening down in Kansas City and it could be the first undefeated season ever.
If you missed the Lions Texans game last night, it was an instant classic with the Lions mounting a 23-7 second half comeback to beat the Texans 26-23. Lions defense didn’t allow a point in the second half to the high-powered Texans offense on their way to a victory. But that wasn’t the story that caught everyone’s eye, that story came from The Lions unlikeliest of heroes, this time in the form of a brick salesmen from Houston. The Lions kicker Jake Bates was selling bricks this time last year, and he thought his dreams of playing in the NFL were dead but that wasn’t the case. He got an opportunity in the UFL with the Michigan Panthers where he made the most of his opportunity, so much so it landed him a contract with the Lions, and he is now in the NFL kissing poles with his balls. That came out wrong. What I meant to say is he is now sending his balls off to pole dancing school. Nope, why is this so hard to say… He is hitting game winning kicks for The Lions by the narrowest of margins. Nailed it!
The Lions behind one of the worst first halves of football I have seen them play were staring their second loss right in the face. That was until Jake Bates nailed two 50-yard plus field goals in the fourth quarter by the hair on his chinny-chin-chin. His first kick kissed off the right pole with 5 minutes left, and then 5 minutes later with no time on the clock, he cheated on the right pole by kissing the left pole on his way to the game winner. If the Chiefs win didn't happen it would have been the unlikeliest of wins but what likely happened Sunday night after the final field goal went through, was that Jake helped a lot of people realize no matter how old you are, no matter where life has taken you, there is still a chance that you can live out a childhood dream.
Every Sunday there are unlikely heroes scattered throughout the field that we give no credit to, and they can truly be the difference between winning and losing in the NFL. From the long snapper making a great snap that protected a field goal from being blocked to a special team’s player who made a hell of a tackle to save a kick returner from scoring a touchdown or maybe it’s as simple as a water boy who brought out Gatorade just at the right time to give a player the electrolytes they needed to continue to make great plays. Every day good deeds from good people go unnoticed and good plays from good players go unnoticed, so it’s nice to see the unsung heroes get their flowers as well. Now if you would excuse me, I need to take care of this stomach ache caused by 32 Olive Garden breadsticks.
“He could have warned me after breadstick 7 that this was going to happen.”
“I tried too but you had a carnivorous look it your eyes and I wasn’t getting in between that and a handful of breadsticks.”
Thanks For Reading and Thanks To The Millions Of Veterans That Keep Us Safe Every Day.
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