Today’s big winner: Jon Dorenbos
If he didn’t want to, Jon Dorenbos would probably never have to talk about that day again. Despite 12 seasons in the NFL, the past nine with the Philadelphia Eagles, most football fans have no idea who the veteran long-snapper is. The 34-year-old plays a position suited for anonymity in a game whose players are rarely afforded privacy.
That’s certainly no longer the case for anyone who watched the latest episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, which debuted last night on HBO. In a segment reported by Gumbel himself, Dorenbos candidly shares his personal history, which includes the murder of his mother at the hands of his father when he was just 12 years old.
It’s a story that Dorenbos has shared with journalists before, but never in such a large national forum. The profile focuses mainly on how he used his hobby of magic – he still performs regularly around the country – as a coping mechanism as a teenager.
It made for one of the most gripping segments in recent history on a show that has had no shortage of them over the years. While the latest Hard Knocks has been criticized in some circles for lacking the allure of previous seasons, Real Sports continues to find ways to get its subjects to share things they’d probably rather never speak of again.
The idea that Dorenbos, who was a junior college linebacker and fullback before transferring to UTEP, would somehow have managed a 12-year NFL career is an amazing underdog story regardless of his personal history. To have done it given what he had to overcome as a kid is truly remarkable.
More of today’s big winners:
Dick Bavetta: The NBA referee retired Tuesday after a 39-year career in which he worked a record 2,635 consecutive games.
Boomer Esiason: The NFL commentator blasted Johnny Manziel on his WFAN talk show, warning the Browns rookie, “You’re gonna get wrecked, son.”
Florian Guei: The French sprinter showed some incredible closing speed in the women’s 4×400 final at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich.
Mo’Ne Davis: The 13-year-old Little League World Series phenom is on the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.
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