As a kid I always loved playing football with my friends. Once I got to 3rd grade, I started to want to play organized football because so many of my friends did too, but I couldn’t because I moved a lot and had no way to get to practice. I eventually officially started playing football in the spring of my freshman year.
After my freshman year of high school during the summer before I became a sophomore, I had been in football for a few months at that point, while I was practicing and covering someone as a Defensive Back, I moved my shoulder wrong and bent it to far, and it got popped out of place. Immediately I realized my shoulder was not moving, I just took a knee, not knowing what was going on at the moment. I ended up moving my arm since it didn’t feel hurt, probably because of adrenaline. I stopped practicing for that day, and once the adrenaline wore off, while I was going home, I started to feel the pain. I wouldn’t know it at the time but I would suffer from that injury for the next 2 years. Even now it still hurts.
The shoulder injury affected me physically and mentally for 2 years and has recently felt like it did before I was hurt. During my sophomore and junior year, I felt that on the field I couldn’t do anything at 100% or else I would get hurt, which developed a bad habit of not giving my all in risk of injury.
Even though I felt mentally and physically limited, I could still feel myself becoming bigger, stronger, faster and more comfortable with my body and my game. This was proved to me by things like my weight room numbers going up, my track times going down, and me starting to develop my own stance and playing style. My confidence in my game started to improve, which also allowed me to slowly trust myself more and more each year.
Even though injuries are bad, I still feel like that wasn’t the hardest part about being a football player. The hardest part is having no time for anything else. Football is a very tiring and time-consuming sport; it takes up the entire day after school. Between school and football, I am exhausted and out of time for anything else of importance. Many times, I’ve had to stay up really late at night to do things like homework or study for a test the next day, which then makes me tired for the next day. It also doesn’t allow me to get a job because of how much time it takes up, but my love for football doesn’t allow me to stop so I can’t.
Even though it’s draining I’ve learned a lot from playing football, from my coaches and my teammates. One thing that football has taught me is that if you work hard, you will get better, and it will pay off in the end. Another thing I’ve learned from my coach who we call “Coach DJ” is that excuses don’t matter, and they only hinder you as a man, hinder you in life, and from achieving your goals. One thing I’ve learned from my teammates is what a brother/brotherhood really looks and acts like.
The Miami High football team has been a real brotherhood. Everybody is welcoming and always has each other’s back when it comes to anything and My coaches Coach DJ, Coach T, and all the other coaches has instilled a great work ethic and discipline into us that will help us in life.
