{"id":2514302,"date":"2025-11-25T08:54:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T13:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/determined-cowboys-rookie-pulls-off-game-changing-play-seconds-after-getting-knocked-on-his-back\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T08:57:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T13:57:24","slug":"determined-cowboys-rookie-pulls-off-game-changing-play-seconds-after-getting-knocked-on-his-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/determined-cowboys-rookie-pulls-off-game-changing-play-seconds-after-getting-knocked-on-his-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Determined Cowboys Rookie Pulls Off Game-Changing Play Seconds After Getting Knocked on His Back"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdetermined-cowboys-rookie-pulls-off-game-changing-play-seconds-after-getting-knocked-on-his-back%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2514302&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses how sports, notably football, are often associated more with conservative values due to their nature as meritocracies, where performance adn effort matter most. It highlights a pivotal moment in a recent NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, emphasizing the exemplary effort of Cowboys rookie Alijah Clark.Despite being an undrafted player and a special teams gunner with little recognition, Clark made a critical play by forcing a fumble in a crucial situation, helping his team regain possession and stay competitive. This effort was praised by NFL analysts as a powerful example of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/2021-man-of-the-year-joe-manchin\/\" title=\"2021 Man of the Year: Joe Manchin\">relentless determination<\/a>, underscoring the lesson that persistence and hard work can overcome obstacles-a message valuable both on and off the field.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Fair or not, sports &mdash; and especially football &mdash; have always been tied more to conservatives than liberals.<\/p>\n<p>And it really comes down to one key facet: sports are, depending on whom you ask, the last meritocracy that exists on the face of this earth.<\/p>\n<p>(Participation trophy culture, a hallmark of the left, is pretty much the complete perversion of that meritocracy.)<\/p>\n<p>In sports, the importance of factors like status, salary, past performance, and award recognition all pale in comparison to how important it is to get on the field and perform for your team.<\/p>\n<p>And few plays crystallized that maxim more than what happened during a key punt return in Sunday afternoon&rsquo;s epic tilt between the Dallas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-cowboys-owner-jerry-jones-announces-cancer-diagnosis-credits-experimental-drug\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cowboys<\/a> and Philadelphia Eagles.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>To set the stage, Sunday night&rsquo;s game looked like a blowout. The Eagles jumped out to a 21-point lead and looked every bit like the reigning and defending Super Bowl champions that they are.<\/p>\n<p>But the Cowboys, bolstered by playing at home, kept hanging around and kept hanging around &mdash; until a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/big-play-capability-the-early-season-key-for-trabuco-hills\/\" title=\"Trabuco Hills&#039; early season success hinges on their big-play ability.\">game-changing moment<\/a> in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n<p>Dallas had climbed out of that 21-0 hole, and tied the game at 21-21, when a promising drive fizzled out in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n<p>The Cowboys would punt the ball back to the Eagles, giving Philadelphia the perfect opportunity to kill some clock and march toward a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/indianapolis-colts-release-kicker-rodrigo-blankenship-after-missing-potential-game-winning-field-goal\/\" title=\"Indianapolis Colts Release Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship After Missing Potential ...-Winning ... Goal\">potential game-winning field goal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Only, the Eagles&rsquo; star-studded offense never even got the ball back. And it was all thanks to an unheralded rookie on the Cowboys.<\/p>\n<p>Alijah Clark is not an NFL &ldquo;star&rdquo; by any stretch. He wasn&rsquo;t even drafted coming out of college this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/antifa-seen-cowering-behind-the-police-last-night-in-dc-after-being-confronted-by-the-proud-boys\/\" title=\"Antifa Seen Cowering Behind the Police Last Night in DC After Being Confronted by the Proud Boys\">past year<\/a>, and plays a position (safety) that most front offices don&rsquo;t sink a ton of resources into.<\/p>\n<p>He&rsquo;s also not a starter, as he&rsquo;s currently relegated to special teams &mdash; easily the most overlooked aspect of the three pillars of football, alongside offense and defense &mdash; as a gunner, which is a position most <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >casual football fans don&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t even know about.<\/p>\n<p>That&rsquo;s all a long-winded way of saying that for Clark to carve out any sort of an NFL career, he needs to put in maximum effort.<\/p>\n<p>And boy, did he ever do that on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Take a look at Clark getting pancaked (football parlance for being flattened on your back), never giving up, and forcing a fumble to get his team the ball back in a crucial situation:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Long snapper recovered the fumble. Incredible hustle<\/p>\n<p>PHIvsDAL on FOX\/FOX One<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HkKw7uXVnt\">https:\/\/t.co\/HkKw7uXVnt<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GPTv8nd6XM\">pic.twitter.com\/GPTv8nd6XM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NFL (@NFL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFL\/status\/1992750637185187905?\">November 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>After getting knocked down, Clark never gave up on the play, chased down the Philadelphia punt returner, and then jarred the ball loose to allow his long snapper to recover the fumble.<\/p>\n<p>NFL pundit and former rookie of the year Robert Griffin III gushed about the play on X.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/cowboys-player-booted-joint-practice-throwing-rams-staffer-ground\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cowboys<\/a> Rookie DB Alijah Clark is the difference between winning and losing,&rdquo; he <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RGIII\/status\/1992795297999954035\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posted<\/a>. &ldquo;Watch the EFFORT on this play. Every parent should show this to their kids and every coach in the country should show this clip to their team.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;RELENTLESS EFFORT WINS GAMES.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>NFL reporter Ian Rapoport, meanwhile, simply <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RapSheet\/status\/1992927569281499625\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gave<\/a> a letter grade to Clark&rsquo;s hustle: &ldquo;A+ effort.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Indeed it was. It&rsquo;s also a great lesson to pass on to children: You&rsquo;re going to get knocked on your behind more than once in your life. That doesn&rsquo;t mean you can&rsquo;t still get up, hustle, and make a huge difference.<\/p>\n<p>Clark could&rsquo;ve been content with his version of a participation trophy &mdash; simply making it into the NFL &mdash; but clearly, that&rsquo;s not enough for him.<\/p>\n<p>Good for him.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether fair or not, sports-particularly football-have traditionally been more associated with conservatives than liberals. This largely stems from one main reason: many view sports as one of the last true meritocracies in existence. (In contrast, the culture of participation trophies, often linked to the left, is seen as undermining that merit-based system.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2514303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-11-24T194517.463.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[7604,6601,5541,67655,11580],"class_list":["post-2514302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-cowboys","tag-determination","tag-football","tag-game-changing-play","tag-rookie"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-11-24T194517.463.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2514302"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2514306,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514302\/revisions\/2514306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2514303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2514302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2514302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2514302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}