sA lot of guys start college football games. But this is a bigger deal.
It’s a bigger deal because it wasn’t long ago that Randolph was nothing more than another guy on a roster of a start-up NCAA Division II football team.
He never saw the field his first year and he barely saw it last year, though as the season wore on he started to get on the field a little more.
He played a little on special teams and he also started to get a few opportunities here and there on the offense. Randolph finished the year with three passes for 30 yards, including one catch in the national championship game.
Not exactly eye-popping stats but glimmers of hope nonetheless that perhaps Randolph was about to turn the corner as a player.
He spent the summer working his tail off, which, of course, is no surprise because Randolph is from Navarre and football players in this town know exactly what it means to outwork everyone else.
Sometimes you are left to wonder if the hard work is truly going to pay off, but in this case, it did.
The season opener a few weeks ago was a coming out party for Randolph, who caught four passes for 65 yards, including one where he elevated above the defense and came crashing into the turf with the ball still in his hands. That one set up a field goal that iced the win for the Argonauts. The other, earlier in the second half, put UWF in position to score the go-ahead touchdown.
Randolph hasn’t looked back since. He’s had at least one catch in each of the first three games, twice producing multi-catch games. He’s had 60 or more receiving yards twice as well.
Not bad for a player who was once nowhere to be found on the stat sheet. To say the least, he’s taken advantage of his opportunities, opportunities he’s worked hard for.
He’s now a player that defenses can’t overlook. He’s now an option the Argos can turn to when they need someone to make a big play.
I have a feeling Randolph has just scratched the surface on his potential. The more he plays, the better he’s going to get. His confidence as a player has always been high. Now, it’s through the roof.
He’s having fun, too, and that’s important. He couldn’t ask for a better position to be in as a player.
There are a lot of athletes in the position Randolph used to be in. The guys who seem to never get a shot to shine but continue to grind ahead, hoping one day it will all work out.FeaturedSports, no
If anyone out there thinks there’s no hope of ever starting from the bottom and getting to the top, just remember Randolph has done it.
Sure, he’ll tell you he isn’t where he wants to be yet, but he’s a lot further along than where he used to be and that says a lot about Randolph’s willingness to put in the work to be great.
