Dwayne Haskins: QB1
Dwayne Haskins was a month shy of his 25th birthday when his life was tragically taken in the morning of April 9th. A childlike, kind and loving soul, extinguished before he could even rent a car. I choose not to look at the what ifs of his life. There are so many questions on what could’ve happened and he was well on his way to getting back to being a starting quarterback in the NFL. It hurts to write this because there is no going back, no re-do, no way to make a different choice. He was doing everything right and he was doing it in the right way. Man this sucks but like I said, I choose to look at his life differently.
He lived every boys dream. I often pondered what it would be like to be the starting quarterback of the University of Hawaii. I’m sure we all dreamed about putting on our favorite team’s jersey. Dwayne Haskins did. There’s a video of a young Haskins walking about Ohio State with a Buckeyes jersey on claiming he would one day dawn the red, white and silver colors of The Ohio State University. He did just that. In his lone season as Ohio State’s starter, he would go 13-1 with both a Big 10 title and a Rose Bowl victory after beating out Joe Burrow for the starting job. He would parlay this success into a first round selection by Washington. I’ll always remember his love of the game and joy when he won his first NFL game against the Lions. How did he celebrate? By celebrating with the crowd. It ended up not working out in the nation’s capital so he eventually found his way to Pittsburgh where he had an impressive preseason. He was working out with fellow players in Florida before he passed away.
He achieved so much in such a short time. He went to college, became one of Ohio State’s best quarterbacks and found himself in the NFL. He lived a dream many only could dream. He was a son, a brother, a friend and a husband. Nothing could fill the hole his passing leaves. My prayers and condolences to the Haskins family. If it’s any consolation to them, I’ll never forget how your son had me glued to the TV come both Saturday and Sunday.
