Fair or not, sports — and especially football — have always been tied more to conservatives than liberals.
And it really comes down to one key facet: sports are, depending on whom you ask, the last meritocracy that exists on the face of this earth.
(Participation trophy culture, a hallmark of the left, is pretty much the complete perversion of that meritocracy.)
In sports, the importance of factors like status, salary, past performance, and award recognition all pale in comparison to how important it is to get on the field and perform for your team.
And few plays crystallized that maxim more than what happened during a key punt return in Sunday afternoon’s epic tilt between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.
To set the stage, Sunday night’s game looked like a blowout. The Eagles jumped out to a 21-point lead and looked every bit like the reigning and defending Super Bowl champions that they are.
But the Cowboys, bolstered by playing at home, kept hanging around and kept hanging around — until a game-changing moment in the fourth quarter.
Dallas had climbed out of that 21-0 hole, and tied the game at 21-21, when a promising drive fizzled out in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys would punt the ball back to the Eagles, giving Philadelphia the perfect opportunity to kill some clock and march toward a potential game-winning field goal.
Do you like the Dallas Cowboys?
Only, the Eagles’ star-studded offense never even got the ball back. And it was all thanks to an unheralded rookie on the Cowboys.
Alijah Clark is not an NFL “star” by any stretch. He wasn’t even drafted coming out of college this past year, and plays a position (safety) that most front offices don’t sink a ton of resources into.
He’s also not a starter, as he’s currently relegated to special teams — easily the most overlooked aspect of the three pillars of football, alongside offense and defense — as a gunner, which is a position most casual football fans don’t even know about.
That’s all a long-winded way of saying that for Clark to carve out any sort of an NFL career, he needs to put in maximum effort.
And boy, did he ever do that on Sunday afternoon.
Take a look at Clark getting pancaked (football parlance for being flattened on your back), never giving up, and forcing a fumble to get his team the ball back in a crucial situation:
Long snapper recovered the fumble. Incredible hustle
PHIvsDAL on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/GPTv8nd6XM
— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2025
After getting knocked down, Clark never gave up on the play, chased down the Philadelphia punt returner, and then jarred the ball loose to allow his long snapper to recover the fumble.
NFL pundit and former rookie of the year Robert Griffin III gushed about the play on X.
“Cowboys Rookie DB Alijah Clark is the difference between winning and losing,” he posted. “Watch the EFFORT on this play. Every parent should show this to their kids and every coach in the country should show this clip to their team.”
“RELENTLESS EFFORT WINS GAMES.”
NFL reporter Ian Rapoport, meanwhile, simply gave a letter grade to Clark’s hustle: “A+ effort.”
Indeed it was. It’s also a great lesson to pass on to children: You’re going to get knocked on your behind more than once in your life. That doesn’t mean you can’t still get up, hustle, and make a huge difference.
Clark could’ve been content with his version of a participation trophy — simply making it into the NFL — but clearly, that’s not enough for him.
Good for him.
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