I ran out of a team to root for many times throughout this NFL season. My Redskins were out of contention early, probably even earlier than I was willing to admit, because you never want to think your team is out of it. Through the playoffs there were a couple of teams I was following for one reason or another, but none of those teams made it to the Super Bowl. I don't have much of a rooting interest for tonight, and I don't really care who wins in the end.
There is something I will be rooting for tonight though. Da'Rel Scott is a third string running back, and special teams player for the Giants. He also happens to be the former running back from the University of Maryland. One of the best parts of rooting for college teams and players, is seeing those players go from freshman who are itching to get in the game to NFL players years later.
I still remember seeing Scott for the first time in a game as a freshman in 2007 against UVA in the homecoming game. I didn't know much about him then, I didn't follow his recruitment very much, but he broke out for a big game that day, and it was great getting to see him get even better over his next four years at Maryland. Looking back now, it looks like he was a highly-rated recruit, but I didn't follow recruiting much then, and would never have known that had I not looked it up today.
He wasn't a highly rated back coming out of college, and most "experts" said he wouldn't get drafted at all. The Giants ended up taking a flyer on him, picking him with the 221st overall pick, in the last round of the draft. He may not have gotten a lot of opportunities to do much in the NFL in his first year, but the great thing about the Super Bowl is that it turns a lot of guys no one has ever heard of into household names. So while I may not have a particular team to root for tonight, I'll be in my Maryland Da'Rel Scott jersey rooting for him to get his opportunity.
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