Dustin Pugh

This is the real one...(Blue Checkmark), Go Hoosiers!

[Sterling Snow @sterlingmsnow]

I reread this every year.

I cry like a baby every year.

Todd Beamer died a father, husband, and hero.

Todd: Hello… Operator… listen to me. I can’t speak very loud. This is an emergency. I’m a passenger on a United flight to San Francisco. Our plane has been hijacked.

Lisa: I understand. Can they see you?

Todd: No. There are three that we know of. They have knives — razor knives, like box cutters. Someone announced from the cockpit there was a bomb. It sounded fake.

Lisa: Your name?Todd: Todd Beamer. United Flight 93.Todd: They killed one passenger in first class. They forced most of us back. Fourteen of us here. Five flight attendants. The guy with the bomb ordered us to sit on the floor.

Lisa: Are you okay?

Todd: We’re going down… wait. No. We’re leveling off. We changed directions. We’re flying east again.

Todd: A guy named Jeremy called his wife. She told him two planes hit the World Trade Center. Lisa, is that true?

Lisa: I have to tell you the truth. It’s very bad. Both towers are gone. A third plane hit the Pentagon. Our country is under attack. I’m afraid your plane may be part of their plan.

Todd: Oh God. Lisa, will you do something for me? Call my wife and my kids. Promise me you’ll call.

Lisa: I promise.

Todd: Our home number is… You have the same name as my wife. Lisa. We’ve been married ten years. She’s pregnant with our third child. Tell her I love her. I’ll always love her. We have two boys — David, he’s 3, and Andrew, he’s 1. Tell them their daddy loves them and he is so proud of them. The baby is due January 12th. I saw an ultrasound. We still don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy.

Lisa: I’ll tell them. I promise, Todd.(Lisa patches in the FBI.)

Agent: Todd, your plane is on a course for Washington. Best guess is the White House or the Capitol.

Todd: I understand. I’ll be back.

Todd: Everyone knows this isn’t a normal hijacking. We have decided we will not be pawns in their plot.

Lisa: What are you going to do?

Todd: Four of us are going to rush the one with the bomb. Then the cockpit. A stewardess is getting boiling water. We’ll take them out.

Todd: Would you pray with me?They pray the Lord’s Prayer. Then: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.

Todd: God help me. Jesus help me.Are you guys ready? Let’s Roll.

[DKelly 🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 @1Nicdar]

130 schools said no.
He led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship anyway.
Fernando Mendoza was a 2-star recruit from Miami.

He tried to walk on at his hometown school. They passed.
So did FIU.
So did FAU.
So did everyone else.

At 17, he was sitting in his bedroom, crying over a silent recruiting inbox—after driving to 18 camps with his dad and sending highlights to more than 100 programs.
Not one FBS offer.
His only option? Yale. No scholarship. No NFL path.

Everyone told him to be “realistic.”
“Know your place.”
“Be grateful.”
He didn’t listen.
Because Mendoza understood something most people miss:
The worst outcome isn’t failing.
It’s never getting the chance to try.

Two weeks before signing day in 2022, his phone rang.
Cal needed a body. One offer. Out of 134 schools.
He took it.
He arrived as the third-string quarterback.
Spent a year on the scout team.
Lost his first four starts.
Got sacked 41 times behind a broken offensive line.

Still got up. Every time.
Then Cal brought in a transfer instead of building around him.
So Mendoza left the only school that had ever said yes.
He transferred to Indiana—the losingest program in college football history.

People laughed.
“Career suicide.”
“Graveyard program.”
“Nobody wins there.”
One coach told him something different:
“I’m going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible.”
That was enough.
Mendoza wasn’t just playing for football.
His mother has battled multiple sclerosis for 18 years.

Before every snap, he thought of her.
“My mother is my why.”
Indiana went 16–0.
Beat six Top-10 teams.
Won their first Big Ten title since 1945.
Mendoza threw 41 touchdowns.
Won the Heisman—first in school history.
First Cuban-American to ever do it.

Then came the title game.
Miami. Near his hometown.
Fourth-and-4. Season on the line.
Quarterback draw.
The kid 134 schools rejected spun through defenders and dove into the end zone.

Game over.
Indiana—national champions.
The losingest program became the best team in America.
All because a 17-year-old refused to believe “no” was the end.

Rankings don’t decide your ceiling.
Gatekeepers don’t write your ending.
Being overlooked isn’t a verdict—it’s a starting point.

Sometimes all you need is one shot…
and the courage to bet on yourself when nobody else will.
Don’t quit.

Credit: Barclay Mullins

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

Will Wade please #iubb

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

It shouldn’t be me, but for my wife who just delivered our 3rd baby girl in August, roughing it through sleepless nights, drives her 3 and 6 year olds to school every day with all 3 belting out every Taylor Swift lyric in existence, and still has the energy to handle my cheering and screaming on Sunday during the #Colts games…….oh and this Friday marks our 10 year wedding anniversary. Help this Colts fan win husband/dad of the year by sending my entire clan to Taylor 😉 #ForTheShoe #gohorse

[Jim Irsay @JimIrsay]

TAYLOR SWIFT TICKETS---4 for Sat. night, Nov. 2. ONE WINNER, will also buy dinner at Wisanggeni Pawon on E. 71st St. Retweet this & TELL ME WHY IT SHOULD BE YOU. Must incl. hashtag #ForTheShoe🙂 Fri. NOON deadline. Will be many worthy entries, but I can only pick one! ✌️

[Jim Irsay @JimIrsay]

TAYLOR SWIFT TICKETS---4 for Sat. night, Nov. 2. ONE WINNER, will also buy dinner at Wisanggeni Pawon on E. 71st St. Retweet this & TELL ME WHY IT SHOULD BE YOU. Must incl. hashtag #ForTheShoe🙂 Fri. NOON deadline. Will be many worthy entries, but I can only pick one! ✌️

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

Phantom foul on Brunson, challenged and overturned (wouldve been Pacers layup).

Phantom “Kicked ball” call, apparently can’t be challenged and overturned

Moving screen call in final 12 seconds to determine the game.

Shame on you @OfficialNBARefs was never a fair fight

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

Most rigged NBA game I’ve seen. #pacers #knicks . How you going to call a phantom kick ball and an offensive screen when the game is on the line

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

Cancelling @hulu .

[Barstool IU @IUBarstool]

GET EM OUT #IUBB

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

Good morning. Purdue Sucks. Go Hoosiers. Good Day

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

Good morning. Purdue Sucks. Go Hoosiers. Good Day

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

@TrayceJackson I’ve witnessed your proven leadership. Hoosier nation loves you bro @TrayceJackson

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

Worst missed goal tending of all time in Vegas. #iubb

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

Omg spot on. What does it all mean?!?

[Zephyr Melton @zephyrmelton]

So I have this recurring dream where I'm playing at a super sick course, but on the 1st tee I can't get the ball to stay on the tee. And when I do, I cold top one or don't have enough room to swing or do something else equally embarrassing.

Does this happen to anyone else?

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

@robphinisee1 Go get em Big Shot Rob!

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

😃😃😃❤️❤️❤️

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

@robphinisee1 Thanks for the memories Big Shot Rob!! Good luck my man

[Barstool IU @IUBarstool]

“We packed for four days” - Xavier Johnson. THE CONFIDENCE #IUBB

[natty champ amanda 🏆 @anpiu33]

X plays with passion like he’s been a Hoosier his entire college career and I love it #iubb

[Dustin Pugh @Dustin_checksin]

@XavierJ0hnson My man!!