At this point, I feel like Roland Rivers III is getting tired of me constantly texting him.
It must be annoying to be pulled for an interview after every game to discuss how he was able to account for six touchdowns in one half or to be stopped before practice to share how it was to grow up just outside Atlanta, Georgia.
But as is the case with superstars like LeBron James or Tom Brady, certain players command the attention of all those watch them.
After watching Rivers pass for six touchdowns and rush for two more in the quarterfinals of the NCAA playoffs, it was impossible to not look on in awe. It was nearly impossible to look away.
As the Slippery Rock football team trudges deeper and deeper into the national playoffs, Rivers should not continue to reach new heights. He shouldn't have passed for nearly 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns in two games.
The entire Edinboro football team combined for 1,915 passing yards and 10 touchdowns in 11 games this season.
With Slippery Rock on the brink of its first national championship appearance, led by Rivers' nearly unparalleled season, the road to glory was nothing if not unconventional.
If everything had gone according to plan, Rivers would likely still not know where Slippery Rock is on the map.
The Original Plan
After an eventful tenure at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Ellenwood, Georgia, in which Rivers split time between starting tight end on the varsity team and starting quarterback on the junior varsity team, he finally earned the starting spot as a senior.
Although he played in a couple of games as a junior, play well, it wasn't until his senior season that Rivers finally broke out.
As a junior, he threw just 65 passes, but he completed 42 for 731 yards and nine touchdowns. As a full-time starter as a senior, he led Ellenwood to a 7-4 record and a spot in the Georgia State AAAAA playoffs.
With nearly 3,000 total yards and 31 total touchdowns as a senior, Rivers attracted the attention of local schools, but he ultimately chose Valdosta State University. The plan was to become the best to ever play at Valdosta.
A loss to future NFL star Deshaun Watson in the playoffs ended his high school career, but it allowed him to continue his push for his dreams. Valdosta was the next stop on his path to the NFL.
As a true freshman in 2015, Rivers saw limited time on the field. His potential was clear, however, as he completed 65 percent of his 66 attempts for 548 passing yards and six touchdowns.
After the promise of his freshman season and a strong spring camp, he earned the starting role as a sophomore. It was all going according to plan.
With six wins through Valdosta's first seven games and a spot in the national rankings, Rivers was leading his team toward a berth in the national playoffs. After scoring just three touchdowns in the first three weeks of the season, he broke out for 13 over his next four games.
That's where his journey went off the rails.
Against Delta State, Rivers suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. It was the homecoming game for Valdosta State, but it was the start of a long journey away from home for Rivers.
With the unknowns of the recovery process and the severity of the labrum tear, Rivers was worried he would never be able to play football again.
“I read about guys like Drew Brees and his shoulder injury and Braxton Miller had to change his whole position because of a labrum tear, so not knowing if I would be able to play the game that I love at a high-level again was definitely scary,” Rivers said.
Unable to actually get back on the field, Rivers played a lot of Madden. It allowed him to stay in the game while also motivating him to keep the dream alive.
But the injury also allowed Rivers to discover something about himself that he didn't know: he loves working with kids.
“I’m a guy who loves helping people and loves passing positive energy to everyone I come in contact with,” Rivers said. “I’m a very loving person, and as I’ve grown into my mature ways, I learned I love working with kids and being a mentor to the youth.”
Once his football career is over, Rivers said he would like to continue his work with children. Almost like a 'thank you' for helping him through such a dark time in his life.
With a year away from football to think, Rivers decided it was time to for a fresh start. Taking a leap of faith, he decided to transfer from Valdosta.
“I needed to go somewhere else and stand on my own two feet as a man and just figure out who I am as a person,” Rivers said. “If I’m a leader down there in Valdosta, and if I’m a leader here, I’ll be a leader anywhere I go.”
Without even knowing where Slippery Rock was on the map, he heard about the rainy town in rural Pennsylvania from former quarterbacks coach Justin Roper, who was recently hired as the Slippery Rock offensive coordinator.
After a little bit of research, seeing the success of former Rock quarterback Tanner Garry, Rivers decided Slippery Rock was the place he needed to go.
“I needed to go somewhere else and stand on my own two feet as a man and just figure out who I am as a person,” Rivers said. “If I’m a leader down there in Valdosta, and if I’m a leader here, I’ll be a leader anywhere I go.”
Despite questions from his parents, who didn't understand why he wanted to leave Valdosta, Rivers knew in his heart that he was making the right decision.
After all, his dreams wouldn't lead him astray.
“I wouldn’t say I always had this vision, but leading up to deciding to come up here, Slippery Rock wasn’t even the school that was in mind,” Rivers said. “I had a vision of me playing in this green uniform, I still have that vision in my head today, I was in a green uniform with these white pants. … Maybe it was just destiny for me to come up here.”
Back on track
Well, almost.
Coming to Slippery Rock a day after the start of the spring camp, Rivers was relegated to third-string status behind incumbents Andrew Koester and Taylor King.
"They have that guy, Jay Brown, or whatever his name is down at Last Chance U," Slippery Rock head coach Shawn Lutz said. "Someone should write a little story or script about what this guy has been through. To come from a big time program like Valdosta, and then he rips up his shoulder and has to have surgery. He's down and out and shows up a day late for our camp ... If you ask him, he'll say he should have been the starter."
It didn't take long for Rivers to make his name known.
An injury to Koester in the Shippensburg game and with King unable to go for the Millersville game, Rivers was handed his first start in the third game of the season.
He never looked back, racking up 166 total yards and four touchdowns, in just over a half of work, en route to a 57-10 win.
Rivers salvaged a 1-1 start to the season, leading Slippery Rock to its first PSAC championship game since 2015. Despite the loss to West Chester in the game, a spot was clinched in the NCAA playoffs.
A sensational first season was capped off with a trip to the quarterfinals and a first-team All-PSAC nod. But he wasn't satisfied, and he remembered the feeling of losing to Notre Dame in the biggest game of his career at the time.
“We knew that we had to be better as an offense and guys took that approach this summer with everything we did in the weight room … the team as a whole knew that we left plays out there on that field and that we were a few plays away from competing for the national championship,” Rivers said.
That team, as he called it, has turned into one of the four best teams in the country this season.
With the bonds forged and the friendships strengthened over the course of this season, Rivers is simply enjoying the journey.
“I really took a leap of faith,” he admitted, “but I’m glad that I did.”
The Slippery Rock offense has reached new heights this season, which seems far fetched after the success from last season.
If Rivers was great last season, he is the best this season.
Slippery Rock senior running back Charles Snorweah has only been at SRU one season, after transferring from Rutgers, but even his family has realized how special Rivers is.
"When I call my folks back home, they talk about our offense," Snorweah said. "I'm like, 'yeah, man, it really does start with Roland.' He's really a playmaker."
As the maestro of the highest scoring offense in Division II football, Rivers leads the nation in a wide array of passing statistics.
1st in passing efficiency (188.6)
1st in total offense/per game (4,892/376.3 per game)
1st in passing touchdowns (50)
1st in points responsible for (356/27.4 per game)
3rd in passing yards (4,261)
5th in completion percentage (69.8)
Rivers' 27.4 points per game is higher than NINE teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference this season.
With 4,261 passing yards and 50 passing touchdowns along with 631 rushing yards and nine more touchdowns, Rivers has had the best season from a player in Slippery Rock history.
It's arguable that he's having one of the best season in Division II football history.
With 10 more points, he breaks the single-season points responsible record. With five more passing touchdowns, he breaks the single-season passing touchdown record. With three more touchdowns, he breaks the single-season total touchdown record.
According to Lutz, he is the best player to ever play at Slippery Rock.
"No. 1," Lutz said. "I don't even have to say it. He was responsible for eight touchdowns today, two rushing and threw for six. He's the best I've ever been around, and the biggest thing, he's a good person and a good leader."
Already named the PSAC-West Offensive Athlete of the Year, Super Region One Offensive Athlete of the Year and PSAC championship game MVP, Rivers is a finalist for the Harlon Hill Award.
"If Roland Rivers doesn't win the Harlon Hill, you tell me a better football player in all of Division II," Lutz said. "I usually don't say this, I'm not campaigning, but he's the best football player in the country."
Individual accolades aside, if that's possible, Rivers said the season isn't done yet. The ultimate prize, the goal he's been striving for all season, is within reach.
With Minnesota State, Mankato on the horizon, Slippery Rock has a chance to advance to the national championship for the first time in school history.
There's no one junior wide receiver Jermaine Wynn, Jr. would rather have leading the team into the game.
"He's a leader," Wynn said. "He's an emotional leader; it's very easy to get behind this guy. He sees the field unlike any other quarterback I've ever seen, his work ethic is unmatched, he lives football, he breathes football. So, he makes my job so much easier because I know all I've got to do is run my route and 14 will get me the ball."
With Minnesota State boasting one of the best defenses in the country, one that allows just 12.7 points per game, Snorweah knows that if all else fails, Rivers will find a way.
"I feel like our best play is the scramble drill when he breaks out and the receivers just start running," Snorweah said. "We got smart receivers and a smart quarterback. He does it everyday; he does it when he's at home, he does it at 2 in the morning. He lives football."
Despite the intense will to win and the burning desire to be an NFL quarterback, Rivers is just thankful that he's able to play the game that he loves. It's something that Snorweah gets to see everyday.
"It's crazy because that's my roommate," Snorweah said. "You can see it in his actions everyday, like he'll always want to throw the ball with you. You'll throw the ball and he'll turn it into a scramble drill. He'll roll out and start running and throwing it. He does this everyday."
He's just a kid at heart who loves the game of football.