With the College Football National Championship right around the corner, I thought I would share the story behind my very own championship game. You might be thinking through the sports I played growing up, trying to guess which one it could be. Was it in high school? Did he play in a state championship game in soccer? Did his football team play for a conference title? Well, sadly I never play for any championship in high school. I remember only once ever winning a division soccer championship back in the ol’ recreation days but that was it, before this game came along in college…
It was a cold night and my team was facing the only team that beat us in the regular season, the Flying Squirrels. Now don’t let the name deceive you – they were good. But back to the story… So it was a cold night in November and the stage was set for this epic battle. The Flying Squirrels on one side and my team, the Lucky Ducks, on the other. Yes, I am talking about coed flag football! I was asked earlier in the year to play on this “loaded” coed team that was sure to win the title. I was recruited to fill a void in the quarterback position and on defense. I gladly accepted the challenge and the offer. I actually played with the team the year before but I was never counted on to lead the offense but only to make plays when needed. But this was my shot, to win the big one and walk away a winner. We were having a great season, typically beating teams by a very large margin. But halfway through the season, we faced this same Flying Squirrels team and for some reason, nothing went right for us. The other team was down a man but we still couldn’t score any points on their defense. Our offense was terrible (mainly because of my bad throws and bad decisions) but our defense was worse. We let them move down the field and score the game winning TD with little time left on the clock. So here we were, half way into our season, as the strong favorite and highly talented coed team, with one loss. We were crushed, but we decided to regroup and I decided to practice (I needed it!) But we came out the next week and put up 60+ points on the our next opponent causing the intramural department to ask us not to score that many points on teams. Something about sportsmanship. But after our adjustments and focus, we ran through the competition, setting up the stage for the re-match of the year.
So again, here we were on a cold night, in the middle of Death Valley at Clemson University, waiting to show that we were the better team. Our fans were in the background cheering (all 10 of them). Well, they really weren’t cheering but this is my version of the story. I would like to say that after kick-off, my team dominated the game but we didn’t. I quickly developed a passing problem and couldn’t get the ball to anyone and for most of the game, we were defending our endzone and trying to move the ball on offense. But there we were, with 2 minutes left in the game, down by 8 points and on defense. It wasn’t looking good, and I felt as though I had let down my team, again. But we were able to stop them and they were left to punt the ball with under a minute left in the game. I felt a small amount of hope in my heart as they set up to punt. The punter set up 7 yards behind their center, and to the stadium’s surprise, tossed the ball over the punters head and the ball landed on the 25 yard-line giving us the ball where it fell. Our fans went crazy (again, all 10 of them) but we calmly formed our huddle with 30 seconds left in the game and 25 yards out from the endzone. I wish I could say that I delivered some heroic speech or that something special happened in that huddle, but nothing. We broke the huddle and went up to the line. I took the snap and rolled to my left but no one was open; then to my right but I didn’t have any options. I threw the ball to the endzone and it hit the ground; incomplete. So back in the huddle, wondering what to do. But then, I saw it in their eyes. I saw belief and I saw trust. My team knew we could win the game and that made me believe. We knew this would be our last attempt and we needed a good play. We decided to flood one side of the field and send AJ to the right on a drag route. I got to the line and took the snap. I rolled again to the left, giving a pump-fake to the left side and then looked to my right to see AJ running for the endzone, wide open. I stepped up and tossed the ball softly in her direction. AJ positioned herself to catch the ball as one of the other team’s defenders rushed over to break up the pass. Time stood still, as we waited to see what would happen. And then, as the defender laid out to knock the pass away, AJ somehow reached up and grabbed the ball down in the endzone. The crowd again went crazy and you could almost hear them from the field(again, only 10 fans). But this only tied the score (girl TDs were worth 8 points) and we were left to the 2 point conversion. In the huddle, I looked at my center and confidently said, ” release to the right.” I took the snap from the center and rolled with him to the right as he broke away from the defender. The ball was released in front of him but the pass was too far ahead of him. But my center being the competitive guy he was, dove for the pass bringing it in for the game winning conversion.
Wow, what a game! No, we didn’t win a national championship and no we didn’t get a trophy, but we did share a defining experience. We conquered our nemesis as a team. When we thought we were out of the game and defeated, we made plays that ultimately won us the game and cool new t-shirts. When a leader was looking for hope and confidence, his team provided it. But I know it isn’t much but it is all I have. So in this championship season, don’t just watch other people win and some people lose – win your own championship in the game you get to play in. That’s all we can really do is win in our own lives. So whether it is a football national championship or some small intramural coed game or some project at work or family gathering- play hard, win big!
