None of This Was Supposed to Happen - Jordan Love

I think every quarterback has that oh s*** moment.

I’m not even talking about “Welcome to the NFL.”

I’m talking about that first real ohhhhhhh s***.

Mine was November 7, 2021.

When you’re the backup, they always say, “Prepare like you’re going to be the starter, every week.” And you really believe you’re doing it, that’s the funny thing. But there’s levels to this game. Aaron got ruled out with COVID mid-week, and my job was to step up and make sure that the standard didn’t drop.

Against the Chiefs. At Arrowhead. Chris Jones. Frank Clark. Honey Badger. Plus, I think Pat might’ve been a 99 in Madden that year.

It’s all good when you’re kicked back in the film room. You’re the smartest dude in the world when it’s all on a screen. Then you’re out there for real, breaking the huddle at Arrowhead, and you got Honey Badger lurking around the secondary, mixing up the looks, and they’re running Cover 0 every play until you prove to them that you can figure it out. You’re doing the earmuffs, trying to get the plays from the sideline, and the crowd is going crazy, and you got 10 guys looking you dead in the eyes like, “Alright, what’s the plan?”

Man, I was swimming, I can’t lie. I remember the first drive, I’m at the line trying to call out checks at the top of my lungs, and I realize it’s so loud that I can’t even hear myself screaming. Play clock is running down. Honey Badger is edging up to the line, then he’s bailing, then he’s running up again. Devious.

I’m thinking, Yo, this is not preseason.

I got punched in the mouth that whole first half. It was humbling. But I’ll never forget, we ran out for the second half, I knew there was one thing I could count on for sure. I knew that way up there at the top of the stadium, in the very last row – literally the last row – one person was cheering me on. Even if the whole stadium was against me, I still had somebody up there who had my back.

My mom. Always.

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This is a great read. Much more about Jordy at link.

https://signature.theplayerstribune.com/jordan-love-nfl-football-green-bay-packers/p/1