The First Year

Since the day I was born, my life has revolved around the game of Football. My dad had to rush to my birth after a Sunday night game. I moved twice every year, between various schools in various cities until the fifth grade because of football. It has always been the one constant in my life. My first year of tackle football was when I was in the fifth grade. I played on a team at the boys and girls club in Gainesville. I played with my little brother (a third grader at the time), and Patrick Pitts. Our team was the Falcons. We had grey jerseys with black numbers, and I wore number 12. I was a small, skinny, little kid with little athletic ability, and no idea what I wanted to do. I played tight end and defensive end that season. I had 3 receptions for a total of about 15 yards on the year, and about 5 tackles. Patrick and I were among the oldest on the team, and among the most inexperienced. Our teammates had been playing longer than us, even though we were only 10 years old. Patrick and I were timid, and almost always confused. Patrick looked nothing like the man-eater he is today, and I had no intentions of playing Quarterback. The most memorable experiences from that year came at the end of every practice. My dad was the coach that year (it was the only year he was ever one of my coaches) and he loved to push us, especially during conditioning. He would get us together in a big circle, and tell us what we were going to do. We would usually do some assortment of push-ups, sit-ups, 6 inchers, and sprints. He would get us in push-up position and say “we are only going to do ten. When I say down, you go down. When I say up, you come up.” He would then proceed to say “down”, but the “up” did not follow. We would hold ourselves in the down position while he struck up a conversation with one of us about our day at school, or what dinner would be. After he finished with that player, he’d say “up”. Then he would say “down” and start over with a different player. This continued until we had done ten push-ups. Despite this slow start, it was the beginning for Jackson, Patrick, and I. We had been hooked. Not only that, but starting at such a young age gave us some serious advantages. For example, my brother Jackson, an eighth grader, has been playing football longer than every player on the Varsity team at Oak Hall with the exception of Patrick and I. That year was a good one, but little did we know, the next year would take a turn for the worst, and test our dedication…