INGLEWOOD, Calif. — It's been a little under a year since DeMarvion Overshown – after a stellar training camp that saw him stake his claim on a major role with the defense – saw his rookie campaign screech to a halt when he tore his ACL on a sideline tackle in a preseason game.
Back on the west coast and back on the field for the first time since that night in Seattle, Overshown had 3 tackles on a 12-play drive from the Rams that saw him make multiple flashy stops in the run game.
"It felt good," Overshown said. "You get out there and of course you have the nerves running, but that's before every first play of a football game. Getting out there and being able to do what I've been waiting to do for a year, finally getting those butterflies out, it felt good. I'm actually looking forward to practice Tuesday now that I got a game under my belt."
On his first tackle, Overshown came off the edge to tackle Rams running back Boston Scott on an outside zone play. When he got up off the tackle, Overshown stomped on the ground and pounded his chest – something he said was a release of the journey he's been on in the last year.
"[That's] the whole past year coming out," he said. "I've been thinking about what my first celebration would be after my first tackle, but as you can see, it all came to me just like that. Emotions. The feeling of being back and being out there with the team."
While he maybe expected a bit more burn in his first game back, especially with the emotions and adrenaline flowing, Overshown is excited to get back on the field for what is shaping up to be a big year for the Texas product.
"When I came out, I didn't know I was done for," he said. "I thought I had one more drive in me. But a 12-play drive after a year of not playing football? As much as I wanted to go back out there, they did right by me. A lot of football left."
The return for Overshown is complete. And while he has nothing but football in front of him, he can't help but reflect on how unexpected his first year in the NFL was for him. He said he trusted his knee, the training staff and his abilities as soon as he stepped onto the green turf, but he said he'll keep that moment from a year ago with him forever.
"I think about that moment all the time," Overshown said. "When I got up off that injury, I was expecting to come up and play again. I expected that out of myself. Getting the news that I was going to have to wait a year, it definitely hurt. But I worked a whole year just to feel what I felt today in an actual game living my dream all over again. The journey was definitely worth it."
