Daniel Jones played High School football in the Charlotte area and during his Senior season he was a Zero Star 🌟 recruit.
His high school Coach reached out to anyone who would listen in hopes of getting the young man 👨 at least a look see in regards to playing College Football. Nobody wanted Daniel Jones and then finally Coach Cut offered him something called a preferred walk-on ( Insert Mason Crockett / Va Tech).
The difference for our talented Mr. Crockett is that there’s a long list of suitors that would love to have him.
Back to Danny Dimes, his time at Duke was a roller-coaster 🎢 ride that included getting intercepted by a Bronco Mendenhall coached UVA team six times in one game. Jones continued to battle hard and he was being coached by the same man that mentored both of the Manning Brothers during their college careers.
Jones led Duke to a victory in the Independence Bowl (fun day in Shreveport) with a 400+ yard/ 5 TD performance and then announced that he would be forgo his final season to head to the NFL. I was really hoping that he would go late in the first round to a small market team and work his way up the depth chart quietly.
Instead, the New York Giants selected him 6th overall, pretty much the polar opposite of what he needed. The Biggest Media market in the World 🌎 and we live in a 24/7 platform where people get rich just for telling people that other people Suck (not saying that in a good way).
Jones worked his way up to the point where he led the Giants to a playoff victory and then the team offered him a 4 year, $160 Million Dollar extension. Now people who had been critical of him but had to slow down some, reloaded and its open season again. None of this keeps me from pulling for a young man that nobody wanted.
Now its time to bring this full circle 🔵 to Ryan Largen and his Middle School 🏫 Football 🏈 team. Largen has a look in his eye and a sound in his voice that screams I want to make a difference. Not everyone has that nor does everyone need to have it but when someone does I want to encourage them in any way possible.
Last week, wearing my Daniel Jones jersey, I went down to Tommy Thompson Field for Ryan’s coaching debut. My fear was that if it didn’t go well Coach and his team could be on the wrong side of a 60-0 outcome.
Why would someone with no true connection to a Middle School team give up an evening to watch a game that was going to be lopsided ? Because if it had ended 60-0 for Coach Largen, I wanted to make sure that I was standing 🧍♂️ right beside him. Support is unconditional ❤.
Tonight the team will be back on the gridiron 🏈 over at Galax High School at 6:30 facing a team that should be a little more “normal”. Radford, week one opponent, has built a feeder system to a State Championship program and that’s what Coach Largen will try to do over time.
Yes, tonight you can stay at home and watch NFL football. Or you can be at home taking a nap ahead of the overnight work shift but know that a young Coach is leading a young ball club and they want to go places !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 