The face of a champion

Heading into Thursday’s game with Buffalo, the pending cuts had to be on Nate Hughes’ mind. Perhaps he thought a couple of catches, maybe a solid return or two and a touchdown would make the team. Perhaps he didn’t think he had a chance.

What he knew, what we all knew, was that the James Mungro Memorial Award presented by (sponsor pending) was out there for the taking. And Nate Hughes didn’t do it. Hughes ended up with zero catches, two uninspiring returns and one shot of him standing dumbly on the sidelines. He was cut the next day.

Your 2012 James Mungro Memorial Award presented by (you, for just a penny) Football Edition Winner:* Jacques McClendon.

McClendon makes history in three ways. He’s the first football player to win the award, likely the only guard ever to do so and is the first posthumous Detroit-career winner.

Jacques came to the NFL by way of Tennessee, where Wikipedia tells me he holds the school’s all-time bench press record at 645 pounds. I’m 80 percent certain that McClendon added this to his Wikipedia profile himself. While he could push things, he apparently couldn’t push his own body.

I’m assuming slowness prevented him from getting an invite to the combine. McClendon became a fourth-round pick in 2010 anyway, going to the Colts.. The Lions claimed him off waivers before the season. He played in just four games, all as a reserve and even saw some time at tight end. Maybe that’s where the Detroit went wrong. They had him inside, playing guard. LET THE BIG MAN RUN.

If he ever gets a football in his hands, those in attendance will cry tears of joy. If he ever scores a touchdown, it would be one of the fattest Fat Guy Touchdowns of all time. All of the sudden I can understand why the Colts won two games last year.

I first discovered him in the first game after he pulled and destroyed some poor Browns linebacker. A couple quarters later, celebrated while the play was going on, becoming the JMMA favorite from the outset. From then on, my heart fluttered everytime I saw big No. 63 coming through a hole.

With a fairly boring Twitter account offset by having an almost inexplicable 4,000 likes on his Facebook page and surpassed by the fact that he got a Master’s Degree at Tennessee in just four years, competitors had an uphill climb. I’m not sure Nate Hughes was as close as we originally thought before the Bills game.

McClendon didn’t do anything to drop him from the top spot, and no one did enough to take it away from him. So commence the JMMA Opening and Closing ceremonies (we combine them to save money. Remember, we don’t have any sponsors.) We have a new leader. Chris Bootcheck has officially transferred his title of James Mungro Memorial Award Winner to Jacques McClendon.

Now all Jacques needs to do is find a team to play for.

*(That’s a mouthful, somebody figure out a way to cut that down. Or sponsor the thing.)