HS #101 2023.12.14
Brock Purdy – Mr. Irrelevant
I have a new hero. It all started a year ago. On December 4, 2022 I had a free Sunday afternoon, so was surfing through TV channels and lit upon an NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Miami Dolphins. The 49er’s quarterback had just gotten injured, so they put in their third string QB – Brock Purdy. He led the team to a 33-17 victory.
The name sounded familiar. Then I remembered that I had watched him play the year before when I was at Iowa State University (my alma mater) to give a talk. I was given tickets to the game - ISU vs. Oklahoma State. ISU beat their rival and fans flooded the field.
Although Purdy led the previously languishing ISU team to four successful seasons, his leadership talents were not appreciated by the NFL drafters. Lacking size and arm strength, the 49ers picked him as the very last draft pick of 2022. Pick Number 262 – with the appropriate and demeaning nickname of Mr. Irrelevant.
As at Iowa State, Purdy started as third string quarterback for the 49ers, but he impressed his teammates with his assiduous training and preparation. Then, as at ISU, injuries to the first two quarterbacks catapulted him to the front, and once there, he showed his stuff. That had been his life-mission since a child, when he took no position other than quarterback.
Purdy didn’t lose until seriously injuring his elbow in a play-off game. He spent the offseason recovering from surgery, and is now leading the 49ers to a potential Super Bowl and is in contention for MVP even though some pundits still question his potential.
But that is all just background for why he’s my hero.
The poet/author Rudyard Kipling has a famous poem “IF”. (Google it!) Brock Purdy is the embodiment of that poem: “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too . . If you can wait and not be tired by waiting . . If you can dream and not make dreams your master . . If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters just the same . . If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone . . If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, if all men count with you, but none too much . . “
THIS is Brock Purdy. This is the stuff of which heroes are made. Likely this is the stuff of many who lie in Arlington. This is the stuff of military veteran Audie Murphy. But in Brock we see it in action in a 23-year-old kid. He’s “The Little Engine that Could” that mom read to me.
It is most clearly seen as he celebrates victory. After successful plays, he bumps helmets and slaps teammates which (he explained when asked) he does to motivate others. But after the victory, he celebrates alone – clenching his fists, arching his back and looking skyward with eyes tightly closed.
What’s the significance? Brock’s motivation, his inspiration, his reason for living all lie within himself. He doesn’t need the affirmation of others, and this independence and quiet self-assurance allows him to live fully. This is what makes him the apotheosis of Kipling’s poem.
Purdy is a modern-day Eric Liddell. Remember him? The inspiration for the movie “Chariots of Fire.” It was Liddell’s faith which kept him from running for England on Sunday for the 1924 Olympic Games. When the King remarked it was a shame that Liddell’s faith restricted him, he was answered that, in fact, it was Liddell’s faith which propelled him to be the runner he was.
Same with Purdy. His faith is not revealed in postgame interviews. No “God gave us the victory” speeches. But when asked, he explains that his faith – inherited from his parents and upbringing – is the foundation for his confident living. Would he be the same person without it? Hard to say. Certainly not all people of faith have his self-confidence, and certainly many without faith in God do have his scalding assurance. The atheist Bertrand Russell is one obvious example.
But Purdy’s faith is certainly HIS answer to his unwavering self-assurance, and is why he owns the promise of Kipling’s final line: “Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it – and – which is more – you’ll be a man, my son.”
