If you live in american and watch football your are most likely to play football at some point in your life, whether that is playing in the backyard with your friends or playing for a team. I started playing football in second grade and am still currently playing. During football I have learned respect, leadership, teamwork, and that I have people by my side no mater what.
Specifically to me, I have been around football for as long as I remember and it is something I talk about a lot. My dad played college football and now coaches football and the same school I go to. Not knowing if this was a bad or good thing he was actually my sophomore football coach, and more specifically he coached my position group. Everyone always asks me if I liked it or not and honestly I thought that it was fun. I spent more time with him than I probably ever have and that’s what football is about. Its about the relationships you have with the coaches and players because if you look back at it our record was 2-7.
Just like in the chapter “Lives of the dead” by Tim O’Brien I learned that people go through a tough time and have to overcome their problems. Something that I always thought about was I being pressured into playing football? Sometimes I thought about was I only playing to make my dad happy? When I was little I really enjoyed playing but now that I get older it seems like it takes a lot of time. I feel like for every sport you cant wait for it to be over but at the end of the season I am always glad I played because I will have memories for the rest of my life. Currently I am on JV and this year we old had 2 games. We practiced for basically 9 months and it upstarted a lot of people and it made a lot of people quit the team. Next year I know it will be different because I will be a senior and I will probably play but when I look back it, I’m glad I played because there was nothing else I would have rather been doing.
Football has changed me for the better in every way. Our coach always talks about how we are leaders and how people look up to us and its the little things that we do that make a difference. Every adult can probably agree that the more things you do in high school the more memories and the more fun it will be. My dad always has a lot of story’s of football whether that was when he was a kid or when he was in college. I wish I could have seen videos of him playing because he seemed to be pretty good.
I have so many memories and funny story’s during football. Now that the seniors are graduating I have to write a speech for one of the players. This player has been one of my best friends over the season and I am going to miss him a lot. This shows during football you make friends that feel like family and nothing can take that away. Just like in the book we read for class Tim O’Brien was very sad when the girl he was friends with forever past away because over being with that person everyday and all of a sudden that person is gone.
Football is a sport that will soon be gone and it is honestly sad. 2 years ago all the junior highs in district 203 have converted to flag football because they are trying to prevent injuries such as concussions. There are people that are trying really hard to stop football at the high school levels as well and it is kind of working. The numbers of people that are playing keep on going down every year and eventually there wont be enough people to play. This is sad because they are taking away kids fun and the experience of football that I had and I am glad that I had. Injuries come with every sport and if people want to play the sport they should be able to play.
As you can see, I have grown up on football and it has been around me for as long as I remember. It made me who I am today and without it I wouldn’t be the same. I am glad that I was able to play my entire life and I am still not sure if I will decide to play in college. In my mind I feel like I don’t want to, but I don’t want to regret not playing when I get older. Eventually I will figure out the answer for the next stage of my life