Parking seems to raise its head in every pop culture event know to man. This time is a player, Landon Cohen, was picked up by the Seahawks last week to play in the super bowl. He had to make a choice, play in the hottest football game of the year, or keep valeting cars in Spartanburg, South Carolina. You can read his story here.
To give you a taste of this young man:
Cohen has learned to try to keep his emotions grounded. This is what happens when you get drafted out of Ohio (University, not State) in the seventh round by the Detroit Lions in 2008 and go through your rookie season on the first 0-16 team in NFL history. Or when you get signed and released by eight different teams in seven years – a career that has included stops with both the New England Patriots (2010 and 2011) and Seahawks (2011 and now). Or when you live your mornings in the YMCA, alternating between weight training and yoga and boxing.
And after all that? Then you spend the larger part of the past three years parking cars. That’s what makes Cohen a fun NFL story this week: His existence on a Super Bowl roster is more a matter of sheer determination rather than blessed talent. Ask any NFL player, and they will say this is the truly admirable grind – having the mental strength to see a roster need and fill it. Maybe only for a week, or a month … or, if fortune smiles on you, an entire season. And when it ends? You work a normal job, like running a valet service.
He seems well grounded, smart, and frankly he can park my car anytime.
JVH
