The Long Road | Teen Ink

The Long Road

May 16, 2014
By Will Werner BRONZE, Billings, Montana
Will Werner BRONZE, Billings, Montana
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Jack Stevens was never really expected to do much in sports mainly because his class was very strong and he came from a huge high school in Texas. Jack also was 5'7 in height and did not weigh enough to be a great running back. Jack Stevens went to Permian High School outside of Dallas, Texas. The only sport Jack played was football. He started off his high school career in football poorly until his junior year when he won the spot for the starting running back. From there Jack, out of nowhere, went from being the underdog to the best running back in the state of Texas.

Jack entered his senior year of high school putting up great stats, and impressing colleges across the nation. The Colleges that Jack was really interested in were The University of Texas, Texas A&M, Florida, Arizona State, Notre Dame and Florida State. He was all over the news and magazines. They were showing his face from Washington to Florida. They were calling Jack the best running back to ever come out of high school. Jack's senior year came to an end and it was time for him to make a decision about which college he would attend. Everyone was watching when he made the decision. "I will be attending the University of Notre Dame" said Jack. Jack was a very devout Catholic. That was one of the reasons he attended Notre Dame.

In Jack's First year at Notre Dame, he was Red Shirted because they wanted to save him. He was to become the face of the University. Jack finally got onto the field and when he did he made his high school records seem like nothing at all. He crushed previous college running back records held by Hershel Walker and Barry Sanders. He was, in everyone's eyes, the best player in the upcoming pro football draft. Plus, jack would only be a junior. Jack had another big decision in his life and that was whether he would enter the NFL draft now, or whether he would go next year or the next. Jack's big decision affected his school in a huge way and his own life, too. After hours of thinking about the decision Jack decided to stay, not just another year, but until he graduated. Jack valued school and he said that he would first graduate from college and then enter the draft.

Two years have passed since Jack made the statement that he was going to stay in college for two more years. Jack, since then, has torn up every record, becoming the second player in college football history to win the Heisman 2 years in a row, be an All-American 3 years in a row, and win the running back award 3 years in a row. Jack, to everyone, was a lock to be the first overall draft pick each year in the draft. The college football year ended and Jack graduated from Notre Dame, waiting for the draft combine to happen. When Jack did the combine he surprisingly shocked everyone. He did poorly in the 40 yard dash, running a 4.7. The average running back runs a 4.5 and higher. Jack also fumbled the ball 6 times and dropped 9 passes in the combine. The last time Jack failed was a while ago and Jack had to learn how to lose or else he would get nowhere. Finally, the draft was here, and the number 1 pick was up. "With the first pick in the 2014 NFL draft the Jacksonville Jaguars selects Mathieu Farley from USC". The fact that the team with the first pick did not take Jack made teams doubt him. Jack fell to the 3rd round when the San Diego Chargers were on the clock. Teams were not taking Jack because they said he could not catch the ball, he was too short and not quick enough for the NFL. One team, which was the Charger's Rivals, passed on Jack 4 times and instead got taller and faster running backs. Finally, the Chargers were the team to pick Jack in the 3rd round. He loved the pick because he got to live in California and play for a great program.

Jack made it a goal to shock everyone in the NFL for not drafting him in all of those rounds. Jack got faster. He could run the 40 yard dash in 4.4, which was impressive. Jack shocked everyone once again and made the pro bowl, breaking records once again. In Jack's third year as a pro player he had finally come to be where he had been trying to get to, all of his life, to be respected world wide as one of the best running backs in the league. Jack had one more goal and that was to make the playoffs and beat the team that passed on him 4 times in the draft, the Denver Broncos.

In Jack's final year the Chargers were a threat not just to win the western division but to the whole league. The Chargers had a very good trio of quarterback Luke Mathew from Miami, Goonoo Johnson, the wide receiver from Cal, and Jack Stevens, the running back from Notre Dame. The three players were not the only ones who carried the team. They also had a 7 time pro bowler veteran named Stephen Jones.

The Chargers made it to the playoffs. In the semi finals it was the Denver Broncos against The Chargers. This was his time to officially show the world that the broncos were wrong and that Jack loved the Chargers. Jack had 23 carries for 567 yards and 4 touch downs as the Chargers beat the very well coached Denver Broncos. Jack finally showed the world, but he had one more game and that was the Super Bowl. In the Super Bowl it was the San Diego Chargers against the Pittsburg Steelers. The Steelers were an all around great team with 6 pro- bowlers. The Steelers did have the best record in the NFL. In the super bowl Jack Stevens was shut out with 6 carries for 23 yards. The Chargers still hung in the game and in the final seconds Jack Stevens caught a touchdown to win the super bowl. He had finally shown the world that they should not have doubted Jack Stevens.



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