Sam Darnold helped me realize something today. I’m glad I have the chance to share with you what that is!

Happy Tuesday! Thanks for reading always! 🙂

There’s this saying, I think it has multiple versions, but it goes along the lines of this:

“You never know how close you are to achieving your dreams.” It goes hand in hand with this graphic that is stuck in my head…

The guy on the bottom is just one dig away from the prize, but he’s had enough. He hasn’t seen any results, so he turns away. We’ll come back to this.

On Sunday, we had Super Bowl LX. Was it the greatest SB in the world? Maybe not, but it was a game that revolved around redemption. And the story it told when it was all said and done, man, it was a cool one.

Anybody else remember when Sam Darnold was moving around the pocket in a Gang Green Jets uniform? My god. He spent the first three seasons of his career playing at MetLife Stadium after being the third overall pick in the draft. He started 38 games for them and ended up with a 13-25 record.

His time ended there on the note of him going 2-10 in the 2020 season. I really don’t think it would be an overreaction to say that there wasn’t a single person writing about how, despite his situation in NY, he had a level of championship-caliber play in him. How maybe he could leave and one day hoist a Lombardi.

The trade to Carolina was not one that resurrected his career. He spent two seasons there and ended with an 8-10 record across his starts as a Panther.

I’m sure somebody will quickly remind me of who I’m forgetting, but I truly can’t remember a story of a Super Bowl winning Quarterback that mimics this one. A guy who was tossed to the side, given up on, had to listen about how he just ‘wasn’t the guy’. Even after posting a 14-3 record with the Vikings last year, even that wasn’t enough to have his own team say: “This is our guy!”

No, instead they wanted to go with a guy who had never taken a snap in an NFL game.

Thinking about the resolve he’s had to have gives me goosebumps.

Losing season. Losing season. Turnovers. Ghosts. City turns on you. Traded. Losing season. New team again. Finally starts winning. Told he’s not good enough AGAIN……

Finds his home.

This series of events led him to where he will be immortal. A Super Bowl Champion.

How many times could Sam have been like, you know what, I think it’s time to stop working hard. Let’s just mail it in, be a backup somewhere, and live a good life.

I think back to our friend with the axe, who is just a few swings away from reaching his goal, but calls it quits.

Darnold didn’t stop swinging, even when his cave went on forever.

This is why it’s easy to be romantic about sports. Because these storylines are broadcast for the world to see.

The Stump was always meant to be an open forum, one where we can communicate beyond just the biggest game from the weekend.

But it’s veered.

Although I may not want to, I think it’s safe to finally say this out loud. The Stump has reached an inflection point.

I can continue to post sporadically, and I mean, there’s nothing too wrong with that. “Life gets busy,” right.

Or.

Maybe.

I can dig.

Dig today. Dig tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that.

I stopped digging.

I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that it would be Sam Darnold who made me realize it.

It’s time to dig again.

Why?

Because something deep down tells me that there’s some more Stumpers out there.

They just don’t know it yet!

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