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Ex-Pitt reserve steps into NFL spotlight
Nobody else has a chance, if you believe these people.
Don't they ever learn?
This is the NFL, where the difference between teams is thinner than Ben Roethlisberger's goatee.
Anyone remotely familiar with this parity-ridden league knows that the Minnesota Vikings or the Seattle Seahawks or anyone else who qualifies for the NFC playoffs would be fully capable of springing an "upset" on the Eagles.
The team down in Charlotte, N.C., merits special consideration. It has won five consecutive games and has taken dead aim on defending its conference title.
Which brings us, in a roundabout way, to Nick Goings.
I'm guessing you didn't draft Goings in your fantasy league -- not unless you have a special-teams blockers category -- but you might remember him from his non-descript career at Pitt, which followed an even more non-descript career at Ohio State.
Goings hooked on with Carolina as an undrafted, free-agent fullback in 2001 and played a bit role for three seasons.
Today, he's a star.
All it took was five injuries for Goings to get a chance as a featured runner. Stephen Davis, DeShaun Foster and Rod "He Hate Me" Smart went down with season-enders, prompting the Panthers to try fullback Brad Hoover at tailback.
When Hoover was injured, Joey Harris, up from the practice squad, was next. He pulled a hamstring in practice, giving Goings the start Nov. 14 at San Francisco.
The Panthers, 1-7 at the time, haven't lost since.
John Fox's team put itself into solid playoff position largely because of Goings, who tied a team record Sunday with his fourth consecutive 100-yard game.
In five starts, the 6-foot, 225-pound Goings has rushed 120 times for 509 yards and five TD's and added 15 catches for 134 yards.
A month ago, this guy could have walked through any mall in America unrecognized. Now, everybody wants a piece of him.
"This is the most limelight I've had since high school," Goings said. "It's fun."
Fun was not a word associated with Goings' college career. Coming out of Dublin (Ohio) Scioto High School, where he played for current Pitt recruiting coordinator Bryan Deal, Goings signed with Ohio State. A chronic neck injury buried him on the Buckeyes' depth chart, and after two frustrating years, he transferred to Pitt.
It didn't get much better, although Goings rushed for 469 yards and six touchdowns his junior year.
An ankle injury, however, left him behind talented Kevan Barlow the next year.
"That was one of the hardest times of my life," Goings said. "But I just kept working, tried to make the most of my opportunities."
A little luck helped. North Catholic High School graduate Jack Bushofsky, then Carolina's personnel director, was supposed to scout a Pitt game in 2001, but a scheduling foul-up forced him to watch a practice, instead.
Goings caught his eye.
"If we hadn't seen him in a practice situation, we might not have identified him," Bushofsky later told ESPN.
The soft-spoken Goings said the NFL dream fueled his perseverance.
"Until college, everything was going pretty well," he said. "I just didn't want to quit. I love playing football."
Goings will never forget charging onto the field before last year's Super Bowl -- "It's something you can't really put into words" -- and hopes to do it again.
This time, as the Panthers' starting tailback.
