CHICAGO — The third night of the Democratic National Convention felt less like a political assembly and more like a school pep rally as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a retired teacher and assistant football coach, formally accepted the vice-presidential nomination. This was by design.

“It is the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal. But we’re on offense,” Walz said at the end of an evening that featured a band, football players, and a crowd nearly ready to run through a brick wall. “We’re driving down the field. And, boy, do we have the right team to win this.”

Relatively unknown outside his home state until weeks ago, Walz had clearly done his homework to make the most of his first national moment. He reportedly had never used a teleprompter until Vice President Kamala Harris invited him to join the national ticket. The assignment: Hit the competition as “dangerous” and “weird” but remain folksy and approachable in front of an audience in the millions.

Grades are due in November. He delivered his best effort. He did not repeat the odd embellishments on his resume that have irked even some Democrats here. Not did he add any new ones. He did, however, leave the delegates in the hall delighted with Harris’ selection. The speech contained a curious – one might say weird – self-own when it came to the topic of education. And it’s one of the veep candidate’s favorite one-liners.

First, Walz had to introduce himself to the millions of Americans watching on television, but he did not do it alone. He spoke of his time in the Army National Guard; a video had played earlier in the night on the jumbotron, featuring Al Bonnifield, a veteran who served under him and who recalled that Walz’s “catchphrase was ‘we will get it done,’ and we did.” He talked football; A few members of the........

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