^{TODAY’S STORY IS POWERED BY Bear Brawl}

Reading Bear Brawl is like watching a high-octane blockbuster action flick.

It’s the ultimate underdog story: One man vs. 500 pounds of apex predator. No weapons. Only fists and a thirst for revenge.

One early review called it a cross between Fight Club and The Revenant. Others say Rocky IV and Jack Reacher.

Personally, I’d call it awesome.

I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy from award-winning author Jon Finkel, and I couldn’t put this book down.

It’s a compelling story from start to finish, and it left me with one simple question: Who will play Brick Bridger in the movie adaptation?

Bear Brawl hits bookstores on November 10th, but you can order it today in whichever format you prefer: hardcover, paperback, Kindle, or audiobook.

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Before we get into it, I have some cool news to share:

All-Pro NFL guard Quinn Meinerz is officially a Joker Mag supporter! 🫡

If you’re not familiar with his story, check it out here.

In today’s edition…

An Amazon worker showed up at a college prospect camp right after an overnight shift.

Operating on a half-hour of sleep, he chugged an energy drink and hit the field.

What happened next changed his life forever.

Let’s dive in 👇

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Shavon Revel had just crawled into bed after a 10-hour overnight shift at the Amazon warehouse.

30 minutes later, he heard a knock on his door.

This was it.  Time to roll.

He was dead tired and could barely keep his eyes open.  But instead of giving in to the instinct to just pull the covers up, he forced himself to get up.

About four hours later, his life changed forever.

“You don't make excuses. You don't blame what's happened to you in life. You go get it. You take it. No one's going to feel sorry for you.”

Back in high school, Shavon dealt with a devastating string of injuries.

As a sophomore, he got into a car accident that left him with a fractured skull and a broken nose.

“I woke up in the hospital,” he told Nicole Hutchison on the CommuniTea podcast. “I was fine, but I didn’t know what was going on…it happened that fast.”

It took six months to recover, but he made it back to the field for the start of his junior year.

But halfway through the season, he broke his collarbone.  Then, as a senior, he tore a ligament in his finger.

On top of that, he was an academic non-qualifier, meaning his grades weren’t good enough for him to be eligible for an NCAA program.

He wasn’t necessarily a bad student.  But he was hyperfixated on honing his craft in the gym, at practice, and on game day.

“It was too much football,” he told ESPN, “and not enough of everything else in the classroom.”

Shavon’s only offer to keep playing ball came from Louisburg College, a JUCO program in rural North Carolina.

“I looked at it like Alabama…it’s another opportunity.”

When he arrived on campus, he was at the bottom of the depth chart.  A 4th-string cornerback.

But it didn’t make much of a difference; his entire freshman season was wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead of partying with friends, Shavon spent all of his free time doing homework, studying, and working 10-hour shifts scanning and loading packages at an Amazon warehouse.

The summer before his sophomore year, he was at a crossroads.  He had no college game film, and his grades were still holding him back.

No 4-year schools were recruiting him, and his playing career was on life support.

“There were a lot of points where I could’ve given up,” he told The Athletic. “But I can’t give up on the sport I love.”

That’s when his father heard about a prospect camp at East Carolina University.  Shavon paid $50 to register.

After an overnight shift at the Amazon warehouse – from 6 PM to 4 AM – he went home to take a nap while he waited for his dad to get off work.

30 minutes later, he heard a tap on his bedroom door.

“My dad knocked on the door,” Revel said.  “He said, ‘Son, you don’t gotta go no more. I’ll give you the $50 back.’”

“And I said, ‘This all started from a yes.’  I could’ve said, ‘No, I’m tired,’ [but] I said yes.”

He grabbed his cleats and a C4 energy drink, and hopped in the car with his dad for the 3-hour drive to ECU’s camp.

Operating on a half-hour of sleep, he took the field determined to give it his best shot.

“I didn’t drink [any] water…I was out there dying,” he said. “It was like 95 degrees, and I only drank some C4.”

The nerves kicked in when he saw the group of ECU coaches gathered around holding clipboards and stopwatches.

But he stuck it out and went through all the drills you see at the NFL Combine.

From the very first run, Revel blew away the competition.  His numbers were top-tier across the board:

Up to that point, the coaches had no idea who he was.  But after he put up those numbers, they wanted to know everything about him.

His dad said later, “The coach pretty much chased him down. I knew it was good news.”

And it was.  ECU offered him a scholarship on the spot, with one condition: he had to improve his GPA.

Shavon understood how big this opportunity was.  And he wasn’t scared of the work it would take to make it happen.

“It just changed my whole perspective about everything.  How hard I’ve been working, everything back in the past…it actually built me up.”

So he went back to Louisburg for his sophomore year, grinding it out on the field and in the classroom.

He called it “the most stressful semester” ever, saying he checked his grades “probably 100 times a day.”

But he delivered, getting his grades up enough to transfer to ECU in December.

Once again, Revel started at the bottom and worked his way up.  In 2022, he logged just 108 snaps, mostly on special teams.

But the coaches challenged him in practice, matching him up against their starting wide receivers every week.

“I’m very self-motivated, self-driven,” he said. “If you tell me to do 10 push-ups, I’m gonna do 50. You know what I mean? The coaches know that.”

The extra work paid off, and he became a full-time starter in 2023.  By the middle of October, pro scouts were on him.  He earned second-team all-conference honors to cap off the season.

On top of NFL teams sniffing around, offers from other Division 1 programs were flooding in.

In today’s college football landscape, it’s not uncommon for players to transfer several times in a few short years.  With NIL, there’s always a chance to leave for more money elsewhere.

But that wasn’t Revel’s style.

“I really wasn’t big with the NIL because, you know, I grew up with a family that was never just given anything…At East Carolina, they trusted in me. They gave me the opportunity.  They didn’t have to…[so] I’m gonna be loyal.”

In the end, he turned down offers as high as $600,000 to return to ECU.

“Looking at my mom and dad and the way they worked for everything they got, I decided to stay,” he told The Athletic.

“I just didn’t agree with kids being handed that kind of money. I wanted to earn it.”

By the start of the 2024 season, draft analysts were already projecting Shavon as a first-round pick.

Things got off to a hot start.  He notched two interceptions in the first three games, including a pick-six, and his stock continued to climb.

Then, during a Wednesday afternoon practice, he leapt in the air and came down awkwardly on his knee.

“It made me sick, just a freak injury,” said then-cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar.

When the test results came back, his world came crashing down around him.

Torn ACL. Out for the season.

For a student-athlete with aspirations to go pro, he was used to a loaded schedule.  Jam-packed days with class, practice, lifting sessions, conditioning workouts, and team meetings.

In an instant, all of that was wiped away.  All that remained was time to think.

“That was probably the darkest three days of my life,” Shavon said.

“It was just me sitting in the bed in the dark, just looking at the ceiling…I couldn’t sleep because it was hurting so bad.  I didn’t have surgery until the next month.”

He leaned on his family to help pull him out of the downward spiral.  They reminded him of all he had overcome to reach this point.

After reconstructive surgery, Shavon made peace with it all.  Despite the uncertainty, he kept telling himself that everything was going to be okay.

Needless to say, his draft stock tumbled.  The outside noise reached a deafening fever pitch.  Friends, teammates, and advisors all had something to say.

But the NFL wasn’t his top priority.  Getting healthy was.

“I wasn’t always a big-name guy.  I didn’t really care to be a big name.  I didn’t care about attention; I didn’t care about that.  I just cared about getting myself together.”

Regardless of when he was selected, he still had to come in and prove himself.  Earn the job, just like in high school and college.  Nothing would be handed to him.

When Draft Day finally came in April of 2025, the Dallas Cowboys selected him in the third round (76th overall).

He missed the first 10 weeks of the season working his way back from his torn ACL.

In Week 11, he made his professional debut in a win against the Raiders.  Since then, he’s worked his way into more playing time, fighting to prove himself every day.

“Everything is an opportunity.  Everything is a blessing. This is not happening for no reason, so I gotta go out there and show my talent that God has given me.”

Shavon Revel didn’t come this far just to be able to say he made it to the NFL.

He doesn’t brag or talk down on others.  He stays humble, remembering where he came from.  And he continues to share his story for the simple reason of getting his core message across.

“Don’t give up.  Never say you can’t, because once you put that in your mind, you’re already disappointing yourself.  Talk to yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you can do it.”

🐶

Today’s story was written by yours truly.

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And remember, there are 300+ underdog stories over on my website, Joker Mag. Here are two you might’ve missed:

Thanks for reading! 🎃

Til next time,
Tyler

🌟 Trivia Answer: D) Wearing "Scream" masks in the postgame interview. Here’s the recap.

🐻 By the way: There’s a Bear Brawl game too. I’m struggling to beat Macho.

⛳️ My old high school baseball teammate is now a scratch golfer helping others improve their swing, including Leo, an adaptive golfer who plays with one hand.

🏈 Here’s the full podcast with Shavon Revel, which provided some of the source material for today’s story. Listen here.

💌 Your comments keep me going, so please keep ‘em coming! Here are a few favorites from the past week: