Unable to climb out from under whatever was sitting on me tonight, I put on the movie “Invincible”, the Disney film about 31-year Philadelphia bartender and part-time school teacher Vince Papale who walked on to the Eagles when new head coach Dick Vermiel held an open tryout in the summer of 1976.

Papale, who never played college football, outworked his competition and ended up earning a spot on that team, which he joined as the oldest rookie in NFL history. Papale ended up playing three years with the Eagles, and in the process, he gave a lift to a city that was reeling from the industrial and economic conditions of the times.

It was a good movie for this moment for me. I just wish I had football, or some other external goal, to pull me forward. I am too content (or too scared) to step out from my quiet routine each day and try some new things.

Oh well.

Glad to see an ordinary guy break through though.

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The movie was great, but like most “true stories”, there’s usually a little shift from the truth.

Learn more about Papale and his arrival on the Eagles here.