Week 4 Picks - Someone is Going to Get Him

I think one of the best parts about football is the perpetual, lurking sensation that Someone Is Going to Get Him.

I’m thinking about this because of the semi-viral video of Myles Garrett from last Sunday’s loss to the Browns. Garrett, mic’ed up for the contest, breezed by left tackle Rasheed Walker on his way to Jordan Love, only to have his microphone pick up Walker’s impassioned plea: “Jordan! Run!” Garrett later gently mocked Walker on the sideline, and I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same. That’s a legitimately hilarious response to getting beat by Walker. You don’t often see the old “look out” block play out so literally.

Though I don’t like that it happened to the quarterback for my team, this play perfectly encapsulates the feeling I’m talking about. I’m worried about Jordan Love in situations like that because if he’s not careful, Someone Is Going to Get Him. I love that part of the reason a ball carrier runs so fast with the ball is because if he doesn’t, Someone Is Going to Get Him.

It’s the danger-within-context feeling that makes football so special. My one in-game highlight from my short college football career came on a vertical route. Releasing up the seam, I saw the safeties split into a two-high look and made for the gap. The quarterback lofted a pass down the middle, and I had to leap to grab it. I can still see the ball in the air and feel the moment play out. The ball hit my hands and I moved to put it away, and I can remember thinking (still in the air), “now, where’s that safety?”

He arrived the moment that thought went through my mind, jolting hard into my right hip and flipping me head over heels over his back. I landed hard on my neck and shoulder, but held onto the ball. He’d gotten me, but I got the ball, and that’s all that matters.

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