Sunday, February 4th, Nick Foles led the Philadelphia Eagles to their first Super Bowl win in 58 years. He was selected as the Super Bowl's MVP, threw for 373 yards and 3 TDs, racked up a completion percentage of 65%, and even caught a touchdown at the end of the second half.
What's crazier than those statistics, and the fact that he led his men to victory against a quarterback who will most likely go down in history as the greatest of all time and a team with five Super Bowl rings in the past 20 years, is the fact that until Week 14 of this season- he was nothing more than a back up.
To be fair, Foles was a second string player under second-year sensation, Carson Wentz, who found himself easily in contention for this year's league MVP, after throwing 33 TDs in just 13 games. However, just like the actual 2018 NFL MVP (Tom Brady) had to way back in 2001, Texas-born Foles needed to step up after the team's starting quarterback suffered a season-ending injury. He not only embraced the daunting challenge in front of him, he absolutely epitomized the potential for efficacy and magic that comes with a 'back up' becoming 'the next man up'.
He didn't take long to adjust. In fact, in his first game as a starter in the 2017-2018 season (Week 15) he threw an impressive 4 TDs to defeat their league rivals, the New York Giants. He then propelled his team through the post-season, throwing 6 touchdowns (and 1 irrelevant interception in Super Bowl LII), 971 total passing yards in 3 games, and an overall postseason quarterback rating of 115.7.
This was the second time already in 2018 when a backup quarterback stunned fans on one of the biggest stages in the world and in the biggest games of their lives to date. You might have seen on Twitter during this year's Super Bowl users calling for the Patriots to "put in Tua".
No, that's not a player currently on New England's roster, but rather the true-freshmen Alabama quarterback who hadn't started a single game in the 2017-2018 season but took over in the second half of the FBS National Championship game to overcome a 13 point deficit and beat the Georgia Bulldogs in overtime.
Walker threw 3 TD with a 58% completion percentage in one half after Nick Saban decided to bench 2-year starter Jalen Hurts saying in an interview after the big win that he, "felt like if we didn’t do something or take a chance to change the momentum of the game, that we wouldn’t have a chance to win," (Schroeder).
Tagovailoa hadn't played in over a month and had only been used in games earlier in the season when the Tide was leading by at least double digits, but he wouldn't let his inexperience nor the fear of failure diminish his single moment in the spotlight. Within the span of one regulation half-time, Tua transitioned from a mere side-line play-caller to a Tuscaloosan-legend connecting with fellow freshman WR, Devonta Smith, for a 41 yard TD pass from the pocket, securing Bama's place in the history books.
These two young men have more in common than just throwing 3 TDs and 1 INT in their respective championship games. They were both, until given an unprecedented opportunity for greatness, "back-ups". Instrumental in their roles for the team, yes, but undeniably auxiliary in nature.
They've practiced the position, studied plays, spent countless hours training and learning and committing their lives to the 'what ifs' and the 'just in case's'. In these two special occasions, Nick and Tua proved to every young athlete frustrated with riding the bench or watching another teammate start over them in the position they've been working so hard to earn that, as long as you've done everything you can possibly do both mentally and physically to prepare, you will be ready when your time comes.
The back-up is more than a bench warmer, a scrub, or a guy who's just there to fill up roster-space. They're the heroes at the end of the day. They're the person you call when there's no other hope, when the ship's sinking, the captain's down, and you need someone to rally the crew. They're built to withstand pressure, mimic (or even surpass) their predecessors, and perform at peak caliber at any unsuspecting moment.
Tom Brady, an indisputable Hall of Famer with legendary status, who lost to Nick Foles in this most recent Super Bowl, was a back-up at one point and built a career, arguably unparalleled by any other to play the game, off of the man above him's sudden exit. Foles and Tula might have just done the same. While both quarterbacks still have significant ground to cover and a multitude of neigh-sayers and doubters to prove wrong, it's undeniable how powerful their emergency performances were.
There's certainly a message in their success stories for all athletes or even those competing for a promotion in the work-place. While it may seem like your time to shine will never come or you seem to find yourself swallowed by the relegation of 'inferior' or 'secondary', prepare like your next game will be the first of many to show the world what you've got, and maybe, just maybe, you'll find yourself succeeding on the biggest stage possible.