ASHBURN, Va. -- The first steps of his journey started there, in Michigan, where Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins began playing football as a kid. It’s where he dreamed of playing at Ford Field, which he’ll do Sunday. It’s where he broke his ankle as a high school junior, when he didn’t dare picture the life he now leads.
But now Cousins returns to his home state for the first time as an NFL starter. He brings with him memories from his days at all levels, from Pop Warner to Holland Christian High School and finally Michigan State.
"There should be a lot of familiar faces in the stands on Sunday," Cousins said.
Yes, there should be. They will get to watch a quarterback who started slow but is coming off a strong outing, one in which he was more accurate throwing down the field and made key off-schedule plays in the win against Philadelphia. Cousins has led the Redskins to 11 wins in their past 16 regular season games, including four straight this season. A knock on him before this season was that he hadn’t beaten a team with a winning record; he’s done so in three of the past four games. It wasn’t all about him, just like those losses in the past weren’t all about him, either.
"We’re happy where he’s at, and where he’s progressing, how he’s progressing," Redskins coach Jay Gruden said. "Utilizing everybody around him, gave him the targets that he has, and now he’s starting to manufacture some plays off schedule. Made a couple big ones last week, which were key to our victory."
But he’s coming back in charge of the Redskins’ offense, which ranks fifth in yards and 15th in points scored. Now Cousins gets to play on a field where the state championship was played.
"We always talked as high school football players and as kids, playing at Ford Field in high school. [We] never even considered being able to do it as a professional player," he said. "[I] didn’t even come close to playing there in high school -- we lost in the first round -- but to get to go back and play there now as a professional is a pretty cool experience."
It won’t be his first time playing on this field: Michigan State beat Florida Atlantic (and future NFL teammate Alfred Morris) at Ford Field.
Cousins’ return visit offers him a chance for a little nostalgia -- and a chance to appreciate what he has become. He went from a barely recruited high school prospect to a starting NFL quarterback being paid nearly $20 million. Michigan provided the base for why Cousins was willing to bet on himself, that he could earn a huge deal playing under the franchise tag.
"I mean, I was shaking my head in disbelief when I got a scholarship to Michigan State," Cousins said. "I was shaking my head in disbelief when I got the chance to start at Michigan State, when we won bowl games, when we won the Big Ten Championship. It’s been a journey for me going back to when I was playing Pop Warner football, where every step of the way has been very special.
"If someone had told me when I was 17 at Holland Christian High School as a junior sitting out with a broken ankle on a team that went 3-6 that, hey in a few years you’re going to be in the NFL playing for the Washington Redskins starting for the second year in a row, and you’re team is going to be 4-2, I’d say, 'I’ll take it.'"
It hasn’t been easy, especially in the NFL. He, of course, was the Redskins’ second quarterback drafted in 2012 -- three rounds after they selected Robert Griffin III. Until last season, Cousins only started if Griffin was hurt. Last summer, though, he became the starter.
But Cousins’ approach never wavered.
"It’s been a journey though, and the fact of the matter is it hasn’t just been one ascending slope, it’s been all over the map," Cousins said. "The key for me has just been one, to hold onto my faith and trust that the Lord has a plan for my life. Secondly, just that tough times don’t last, tough people do and just every single day choose to be a tough person and believe that if you do that, good things will happen in the long run. Hopefully the journey is far from over."