Scott Pitoniak

Not long after watching Derrick Henry rumble 46 yards to give the Baltimore Ravens a seemingly insurmountable 15-point, fourth quarter lead over the Buffalo Bills Sunday night, I muted the television and dozed off in my recliner.

The dream was to play for his hometown team; to stay down in the bayou and follow in the cleat steps of Louisiana State University’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels.

Leo Lyons was smitten with football the instant he snuck onto a Rochester sandlot (against his parents’ wishes) as a 14-year-old in 1906 and played in his first pick-up game.

His decision caught many by surprise. Months later, it continues to be debated on talk radio, basketball podcasts, and internet forums.

Neither the Wizards of Odds in Vegas nor the football sages across America anticipated the changing of the guard (and the quarterback) that’s taken place this fall in the National Football League.