Football
Growing up, I honestly had zero interest in football. I always looked at basketball as my primary sport: I attended camps, played AAU, and even played on a team. Now that I am older, football became a new passion for me, so I played for half of my high school years. At first, I was worried about playing football because of the contact. I was scared at first, but then I went to my first practice without pads, and I learned to like it more.
In football, after the season, to keep the players busy and still around football, it is something called 7-on-7. 7-on-7 is basically the wide receiver is the only position on the field other than the quarterback. When I played 7-on-7, I didn’t get get no play time because I was new to it, but after a while was a custom to how things worked and slowly but surely started to get the hang of it. For me, it prepared me to remember different plays and learn how to adjust to certain offenses and defenses.
In football, I learned that you must have lots of patience with people: the coaches, players, and even the opponents. Sometimes it wasn’t always about playing time. At the beginning of the season, I was a little upset because in my first game I didn’t even get to see the field; I was on the bench and passing the players’ water. I still had my pads on my shoulders weighing me down, but the smile on my face was even heavier.
So at the next practice, I was determined and locked in to prove a point. The next game, I got the playtime I deserved; my stats were good, and I even became one of the starters at my position, which is tight end. Playing tight end gave me a lot of good looks from the quarterback, and that gave me more receptions.
In my first year of actually playing football, I did well, and my performance was at its peak; it opened up different doors for me, allowed me to start attending camps, and gave me more playtime on the field. And not just playtime; it gave me more respect: i was doing things such as helping teammates with plays, making sure they made the right decisions in and out of class.
Football comes with lots of injuries and humbling moments. Towards the end of my season, i hurt my knee. It was a huge setback for me, not physically, but mentally in my mind i felt like I couldn’t do anything. I felt weak and embarrassed because i was humbled but i came to learn that it was all a part of the game. I eventually bounced back from a cannon event like that. A situation like that not only humbled me; it made me learn how to stay disciplined and focused during games.
Later that season, I started playing another position. It was simple and easy; my job was to rush the quarterback. As a defensive end, I had to watch the ball at all times, and as soon as the ball lifted from the ground, it was my job to get the quarterback and to stop them from getting any yards.
This game was one of the hardest games of the season for the team and me. At defensive end, I wasn’t getting any playing time, and niether one of the teams was scoring until the end of the game. We got the ball and decided to kick it. Our kicker made the kick, but it was unfortunately called back. It was still hope we got it back a second time, and we made the kick. It was one of the most relieving feelings ever.
This picture represents one of the biggest changes I made while playing football. At first, I mainly played tight end, where my job was to catch the ball, run routes, and help my offense get down the field. Later in the season, I was allowed to play defensive end. In this picture, I am lined up and ready for the ball to move so I can rush the quarterback. Even though it may look like a simple position, I had to learn how to stay focused, watch the ball, and react as soon as the play started.
Playing defensive end also helped me become more comfortable with the contact that I was scared of when I first started football. Instead of trying to avoid contact, I had to be the person creating it. I had to become more aggressive and confident every time I stepped onto the field. Looking at this picture reminds me of how much I changed from when I first started playing. I went from someone who had zero interest in football and was scared of getting hit, to someone who could line up against another player without being afraid. Football helped me build confidence, stay disciplined, and become comfortable doing things that I once thought I couldn’t do.
Looking back at everything football has put me through, I can honestly say I am not the same person I was when I first started. This picture represents more than me just putting on a football uniform. To me, it represents how far I came from being someone who had no interest in football and was scared of the contact. I never thought football would become such an important part of my high school experience. I went from barely knowing what I was doing to earning playing time, becoming a starter, playing different positions, attending camps, and becoming someone my teammates could depend on.Football wasn’t always easy for me either. There were times when I wasn’t getting the playing time I wanted, times when I had to learn new positions, and even a time when my knee injury made me question myself mentally. Those moments were frustrating, but they taught me just as much as the good moments did. I learned that everything isn’t always going to go my way. Sometimes I had to stay patient, keep working, and wait for my opportunity instead of giving up.When I look at this picture now, I see a different person from the one who walked into that first practice scared of getting hit. I see someone who became more confident, disciplined, and comfortable with being challenged. Football helped me come out of my comfort zone and showed me that I could adapt to something completely new.
The biggest thing football taught me is that you never really know what you’re capable of until you give something a chance. If I had let my fear stop me in the beginning, I would’ve missed out on all of these experiences. Basketball may have been where my love for sports started, but football became a part of my story that I never expected, and that’s what makes this journey mean so much to me.
This picture represents one of the biggest changes I made while playing football. At first, I mainly played tight end, where my job was to catch the ball, run routes, and help my offense get down the field. Later in the season, I was given the opportunity to play defensive end. In this picture, I am lined up and ready for the ball to move so I can rush the quarterback. Even though it may look like a simple position, I had to learn how to stay focused, watch the ball, and react as soon as the play started.
Playing defensive end also helped me become more comfortable with the contact that I was scared of when I first started football. Instead of trying to avoid contact, I had to be the person creating it. I had to become more aggressive and confident every time I stepped onto the field. Looking at this picture reminds me of how much I changed from when I first started playing. I went from someone who had zero interest in football and was scared of getting hit, to someone who could line up against another player without being afraid. Football helped me build confidence, stay disciplined, and become comfortable doing things that I once thought I couldn’t do.
Looking back at everything football has put me through, I can honestly say I am not the same person I was when I first started. This picture represents more than me just putting on a football uniform. To me, it represents how far I came from being someone who had zero interest in football and was scared of the contact. I never thought football would become such an important part of my high school experience, especially because basketball was always the sport I cared about the most growing up.
Football wasn’t always easy for me. There were times when I wasn’t getting the playing time I wanted, times when I had to learn new positions, and even a time when my knee injury affected me mentally. Instead of allowing those moments to make me quit, I kept working and tried to get better every time I had the chance. Eventually, all of that hard work started to pay off. In my first year of playing football, I ended up working hard enough to earn my first college football offer. That was a big moment for me because I had only been playing the sport for a short amount of time. Something I was once afraid to even play had turned into something that gave me an opportunity to play at the next level.
When I look at this picture, that’s what I think about the most. I see someone who took a chance on something new and actually made something out of it. Football helped me become more confident, disciplined, and willing to challenge myself.
