Splat.
That was how the Rams’ third offensive play ended Sunday, with running back Boston Scott being quickly dropped to the turf just as he was about to turn the corner on the Dallas defense.
The man doing the dropping? Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, who had shed a block and blown through to meet Scott at the line of scrimmage and complete the solo tackle.
It went in the books as a two-yard gain by the time Scott fell forward, but the second-year linebacker was already up and celebrating. That tackle had been a long time coming for the 23-year-old.
“It definitely felt good to make a play in an actual game again,” Overshown told reporters Sunday after the game. “It’s kind of like been built up for a year, just waiting for that moment again, and feeling those type of emotions again.”
DeMarvion Overshown is back! pic.twitter.com/MbD0sbJ7X7
— Nash (@NashTalksTexas) August 11, 2024
Overshown, a 2023 third-round draft pick out of Texas, was having a brilliant rookie preseason last summer when he blew out an ACL in a preseason contest versus Seattle. His year was over, and as his team was forced to move on without him, Overshown had no choice but to start on the long and often lonely road to recovery all by himself.
“When you take that away from a competitor like myself, you’ve got to find little wins throughout the day,” he explained. “There were times where I’d go in my garage with a flyswatter and just hit flies all day just to feel good, just to feel something, reaction time.”
Splat.
It may sound unorthodox, especially when there’s a world-class physical therapy facility and a team of professional trainers just waiting at The Star. But for the kid who grew up in the tiny East Texas town of Arp, smack in the middle of horse country, his approach was perhaps the most natural thing in the world.
“You get a lot of bugs out there, and you grow up with a flyswatter,” Overshown grinned. “Grandma with a flyswatter in her hand. That’s just something you can work on your reaction time with, swatting at flies all day.”
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So Overshown picking off an opposing running back, Mr. Miyagi-style, just minutes into his return to the field was cause for celebration indeed. Not only for Cowboys fans who had seen his promising rookie campaign cut short, and not only for coaches who’ve always had an inkling of what they really have in the 6-foot-3 220-pounder, but also for Overshown himself to finally get the opportunity to resume a dream delayed.
“I think about that moment all the time, because when I got up off that injury, I was expecting to come back and play again. That’s what I was expecting out of myself. Getting the news that I was going to have to wait a year, it definitely hurt,” he said. “But I worked a whole year just to feel what I felt again today, in an actual game, living my dream all over again. So the journey was definitely worth it.”
Now wearing No. 13 for the Cowboys, Overshown believes the bad luck is behind him. He says he didn’t really even think about his repaired knee during Sunday’s game and was able to instead focus on football.
“Definitely, the nerves were there for a little bit, but after the first play, I got to hit somebody. Now we’re just doing what I love to do.”
Let that be a warning to all opposing running backs buzzing around the backfield this fall: DeMarvion Overshown is back. And he and his Texas-sized flyswatter are waiting.
Splat.
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