Opportunity knocked on the door of former XFL star Phillip (P.J.) Walker Jr. only minutes before kickoff on Sunday.
The undrafted 25-year-old greeted it calmly, then proceeded to point the visiting Detroit Lions toward the exit sign.
Walker completed 24 of 34 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown, and while he did throw a couple of interceptions, the Carolina Panthers defence threw a blanket over Lions QB Matthew Stafford and friends in a 20-0 pasting.
As far as the timing goes, it was an unexpected NFL debut — although Walker’s mother saw it coming for miles.
Back when her son was in the Indianapolis Colts organization, in fact.
“I actually didn’t envision this start, my mom did,” said Walker, a 5-foot-11, 212-pounder. “A year and a half ago, two years ago, she called me, and she was like: ‘I had a dream that you were playing for the Panthers.’ And I was like: ‘Really, that’s weird, me being in Indianapolis at the moment’.
“Life just come full circle, man. Her dream came true. Mine did too, today.”
Full circle, indeed.
Walker had guided the Houston Roughnecks to a 5-0 start — and was leading the XFL in passing yards and touchdown passes — when the league suspended operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shortly thereafter, he was reunited with Panthers coach Matt Rhule, who was the shots-caller at Temple when Walker established a number of all-time records for the Owls from 2013-16.
Walker appeared to be destined for a backup role against the Lions when started Teddy Bridgewater was cleared to play. But while Rhule said Bridgewater “prepared like a monster,” he also would have been operating at about 80-85 percent.
That prompted Rhule to go with his old college quarterback — and make Walker’s mom look like a prophet.
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