Spencer Rattler's Second Chance
Spencer Rattler was cast into the wilderness after being replaced by Caleb Williams, now he has another chance to become a star in the NFL
Caleb Williams had the college football world in his grasp. You already know the story: the true freshman quarterback takes over under center halfway through the game with his Oklahoma Sooners on the ropes against the hated Texas Longhorns. He flipped the game on its head, led his team to victory and took over the starting role from there.
The sudden and rapid rise of Williams came at the expense of his predecessor, Spencer Rattler. A five star quarterback who himself entered the year with Heisman hopes. While Williams would become a college football superstar over the course of the fall 2021 season, Rattler would fade into the background.
And then the rumors started to emerge. Rattler was apparently not taking the benching well. Instead of taking the young quarterback under his wing, he began to pout. One person familiar with the matter told Bird’s Eye Football that “finger pointing” became a problem, with Rattler blaming the play of the team around him for his poor performance against the Longhorns that led to his benching.
The perception of him would only get worse. In high school, Rattler featured in the Netflix series QB 1: Beyond the Lights, where the young quarterback comes off as cocky, arrogant and, most importantly, a terrible teammate who was quick to blame his peers. A “finger pointer”, as some might say. Clips from the show began to resurface on social media during the 2021 season, and a narrative was forming. He was a bad person who deserved to be unseated.
The world was against Spencer Rattler. He was the easiest player to hate in college football. Watching him pout on the sidelines as Williams performed heroics for the Sooners became an unexpected source of entertainment.
Both Rattler and Williams ended up entering the transfer portal after the 2021 season. Each ended up at a school called USC, but their paths over the last two years could not have been more different.
While Williams’ USC Trojans — of Southern Californian ilk — owned key prime time slots and discussions on morning ESPN shows. Rattler’s USC Gamecocks — of South Carolina — were a team you didn’t think about much, but may have been on ESPN2 when you went to a dive bar on a Saturday night. You may have caught a few snaps in between conversation, seen Rattler and thought: “I remember that guy”. The Trojans were a staple of the top 25, the Gamecocks were on the receiving end of beatdowns from Georgia and Florida.
Williams won the 2022 Heisman, and was a contender for the award in 2023. He remains one of the most recognizable athletes in America. The quarterback got a glossy GQ photoshoot at the start of last season. Meanwhile, little thought was paid to Rattler after his move to Columbia.
Now the pair of quarterbacks once again make a career defining move at the same time, both entering the 2024 NFL draft. Williams is primed to have his name called first, while Rattler could go anywhere. His name has been largely absent from mock drafts and other draft talk in recent months. It’s almost as if he doesn’t exist, having been forgotten by the media sphere that once propped him up.
But the talent that gave Rattler his name in the first place is still there. He was the top overall quarterback in the 2019 recruiting class for a reason. A five star kid that Lincoln Riley had chosen as the next up in his long line of Heisman winning quarterbacks. While his college career was always going to be poisoned by the events in Norman, a jump to the league allows him a fresh start. Another opportunity to prove that he can live up to the Netflix hype. To prove he can put together a football career of his own, and not just be a footnote in the story of Caleb Williams.
Spencer Rattler has a second chance.
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For a brief moment, on November 22, 2019, Rattler was once again at the center of the college football world.
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