The last time Easton Stick started a non-exhibition football game was Jan. 5, 2019.
That afternoon in Frisco, Texas, Stick led North Dakota State to a second consecutive FCS national championship. The Bison beat Eastern Washington 38-24. Stick, then 23 years old, had five touchdowns. He threw for 198 yards and added 121 on the ground.
Stick is 28 now. He is in his fifth NFL season. To be exact, 1,804 days have passed since Stick last started a meaningful football game. Nearly five years of waiting and working, working and waiting until his opportunity arrived. The Los Angeles Chargers drafted Stick in the fifth round in 2019. He sat under Philip Rivers and Tyrod Taylor and Justin Herbert and Chase Daniel. He did not even become the Chargers’ No. 2 quarterback until this year. A college star forced into the backdrop because of circumstance.
Thursday night on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders, Stick will make his first career NFL regular-season start.
“When they selected me five years ago, this is what you want as a kid,” Stick said this week. “An opportunity to go play.”
This Chargers season has bottomed out. They have virtually no chance of making the playoffs. Herbert fractured his right index finger and had season-ending surgery Tuesday.
For Stick, though, the rest of this season will be career-defining. He has four games to show the league what he is capable of as a quarterback at this level. If he plays well, he could earn a chance to compete for a starting job elsewhere in 2024. At a minimum, he could earn himself considerably more money.
Five years of toiling behind the scenes for four games.
2023-12-15 03:34:00
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