Because of its complexity, it’s easy to adopt a form of tunnel vision while watching football. 

The vast majority of us simply watch the ball. We don’t notice the blocking up front. We don’t notice the quality of the tackling. We don’t notice if people are hustling or loafing away from the play.  And we certainly don’t notice special teams (unless it’s bad).

This is unfortunate, especially in the case of teams that achieve special things by doing all the little things right. Teams like the Jim Ned Indians — a collection of unsung heroes who have almost turned being underappreciated into an art form.

Ask your typical fans about a game they saw from the Jim Ned skill personnel and they’ll be able to recite it as though it were straight off the stat sheet. But ask them about all of the little things the Indians have done to advance to tonight’s Class 3A DI state championship game with Hallettsville and that’s where things begin to get fuzzy. 

And nowhere are the Indians more underappreciated than in the special teams department, without which (quite frankly) they would not have made it all the way to Arlington.