There’s no position in sports like the one Ben DiNucci will step into on Sunday Night Football this week.
Starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. America’s Team, no mater what the last few performances have looked like.
The Cowboys brand remains greater than an individual season, as they dominate ratings and are left in primetime despite a 2-5 start. And Ben DiNucci will have a chance to represent that Star on national television this week.
DiNucci told the media on Thursday that this is the “opportunity of a lifetime,” as he readies himself to live out a childhood dream.
Cowboys rookie QB Ben DiNucci said "this is the opportunity of a lifetime… This is everyone's childhood dream. Getting a chance to be starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. What more do you want?"
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) October 29, 2020
A year ago today, this felt like the longest of shots for DiNucci. He was playing at James Madison University, a powerhouse FCS school, but an FCS school nonetheless.
DiNucci threw for over 3,000 yards and 29 touchdowns while also running for 7 scores during his final year as a Duke. The team went 14-2 overall, finished second in the country, and went undefeated in their conference.
DiNucci showed that he could be a dynamic, exciting, mobile quarterback while leading one of the nation’s best squads. But once again, he did it at an FCS school. So who knew what was next in his football life.
Even when the Cowboys selected DiNucci in the seventh round of the 2020 draft, he felt like a long shot to ever make an active gameday roster. Now he stands as the starting quarterback against the hated Philadephia Eagles on Sunday Night Football, with all of Cowboys Nation is hanging on his every throw.
Ben himself was even unsure of his football future, creating a LinkedIn page in an effort to find a job in the real world while at JMU. DiNucci wrote on his resume that “along with being a student, I am also a member of the Varsity Football Team where I have acquired critical time management and leadership skills that will transfer to the real world.”
Well, the real world is now the NFL for this former FCS quarterback.
