Spencer Rattler's legend only grew on Sunday, and there's no stopping it now

A couple of stories from camp that you didn’t get to see.

One day after practice, Spencer Rattler sat in a golf cart, grabbed a football and threw it from the 50-yard line and hit the crossbar dead in the middle. The velocity on it was so strong that we heard it echo as we were walking to the postgame press conference area a field-and-a-half away and it caused nearby geese to scatter in fear.

There was another period during practice when the quarterbacks were trying to hit the orange pylon in the back of the end zone. The other guys tried and tried and couldn’t hit. Dozens and dozens and dozens of throws skirted and skipped by as the pylon stood tall. Rattler walked over after throwing 1-on-1s on the other field, took the ball, spun it in his hand and took two throws. He hit one pylon and then turned to the other side of the end zone and hit the next. After the second throw, the sun emerged from its spot behind a cloud as if it were trying to get a glimpse at the quarterback.

Tom Brady stopped by practice last week before the FOX national broadcast and he played a game of QB horse with the Saints where one quarterback makes a throw and the others have to match it and so on. If you miss, you get a letter. Rattler shut out the field. He only needed five throws. Brady was flummoxed. He looked at the rookie with astonishment, took off one of his Super Bowl rings, handed it to Rattler and walked away with his hands on his head. No words were ever spoken. Sometimes, nothing needs to be said. Sometimes, there’s nothing to be said.

None of these things are true, of course.

But you probably believed for a second until we got to the end of the list, and that’s the point. Rattler built enough buzz and played well enough in the final preseason game that he’s going to make outlandish thoughts and ideas seem practical. He makes you wonder wild things and believe in the impossible, even if the very seed of thought is obviously impossible and outlandish – “Why doesn’t every big blue ox have a Paul Bunyan?” We really can’t be sure yet that Rattler has a black-and-red flannel or a big axe, let alone both, but it doesn’t really matter yet, does it? Because right now, we believe in the possibilities, and that’s going to make for an interesting atmosphere until we get to see him again next year.

That’s just how people talk and think about folk heroes. And sometimes that can make things uncomfortable for mortals who have to exist within the same space as the imagination bubble of immortals. And if you felt let down after finding out that those first few paragraphs were lore, well, just keep in mind that nothing we’ve seen from Rattler yet guarantees success.

If you didn’t see Rattler's preseason, you’re just going to have to believe what I tell you. I promise, this time, everything you’re about to read is true. The numbers are fine but don’t do it justice (7 of 13, 105 yards, one touchdown on Sunday; 20 of 38, 202 yards, one touchdown pass and one TD run in the preseason). One of his best throws was a pass interference during Week 1. The throw dropped out of the sky right onto A.T. Perry’s hand like a broken heart, but the receiver didn’t catch it, so it didn’t become an official stat. You can just forget about the second game. Like the second act of any good story, there has to be some adversity to make the third act even better, and that’s what happened here. Rattler struggled big-time against the 49ers, the kind of stuff that sows doubt, but it was just setting up for the hero’s march at the end.

Speaking of broken hearts, some people have to be upset this guy slid to the fifth round. Did you see Spencer’s touchdown pass to Equanimeous St. Brown? He dropped that thing in there with perfect precision over a cornerback, with a safety closing in. If he had missed the window at all, the window would have closed. But that window wasn’t closing on Rattler on Sunday. Not yet, and hopefully not ever.

But it was some of the throws that didn’t get caught that really would have made his performance sing. And if you saw it, it still sang because, well, it was obvious he didn’t have a lot of help and that the heavy lifting on this mission was Rattler’s to handle.

Did you see the pass over the middle to Michael Jacobson on his first drive? Rattler threw a pass that was so sharp it pierced the air, traveling 26 yards in just 1.1 seconds, but the tight end couldn't catch it. And then there was the other pass to St. Brown at the end of the first half on third-and-6. He had the receiver up the left sideline, and he placed a perfect pass up the sideline, but St. Brown reached out with one hand and watched the pass bounce off his forearm and onto the turf. Should have been six, but it wasn’t meant to be. Not yet, at least.

Rattler’s second scoring drive of the second half might have brought things home. You can watch his 43-yard pass to Perry and say he underthrew it and pick nits and find faults. Or you can look at it, see that Abdullah Anderson was in his face and that Rattler still got the ball there despite not being able to follow through. It all depends on the narrator. It doesn’t really matter, because in lore, all throws are darts over 6-foot-7 defenders.

Just ask Jacob Kibodi. He was right there. Saw Rattler up close. Talked to him in the huddle. Took the field with him. He saw it with his own two eyes.

“I mean he’s spectacular. Full of talent,” Kibodi said. “The throw he made to EQ, crazy. He’s full of talent. He has a swagger about him that uplifts everyone that’s around him.”

Did Rattler do enough to overcome Haener and be the backup? You hope, because it would mean that Rattler will get more reps and develop more and win over his teammates. Those times are invaluable because it gives someone the chance to build their legend with their teammates. The tales and feats you heard about Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City or Jordan Love in Green Bay before you ever saw them were at times larger than life. But then you see those men and it turns out that, well, the stories were all true.

Can Rattler do the same? He knows how people talk about him. He knows that people want him to play and to find out what he can do, and he had to have known that what happened on Sunday is only going to add to those feelings. But he also knows that his story is just starting. And even if Haener is technically the No. 2 guy, all that matters is that he develops and is ready for his next audition.

“I try my best to stay out the way, social media and all that buzz and all that stuff,” Rattler said. “I work here. I’m new. I’m a rookie. I’m just trying to get better, improve, help the team.”

Shortly after answering that question, Rattler walked off the podium and into the hallway where he stopped to talk to some family members and friends after the game. He wasn't wearing a black-and-red flannel, nor was he wielding an axe, but he might as well have been. If everything goes how the team has it planned, this will be the last time we see the quarterback play football until next May. But the story won’t go on pause. It can’t. The people will never let that happen and they’ll keep growing Rattler's legend because that’s what you do when you find hope. You don’t let it sit and die. You fixate on it.

Rattler is no longer a fifth-round pick. He’s an idea. Sometimes ideas are dangerous, but sometimes they blossom into something real. What will Rattler be? Maybe we’ll find out in the next act.