Freddie Steinmark: A Brief Biography

Jenkins starts off by having us ask ourselves what we really think about the players on the field. Do they really deserve to be at a university, or, if they are just here for our entertainment. Jenkins refers to a study by a Cal-berkeley education professor Herbert D. simons that found that 62 percent of college athletes feel as though people look at them as a typical jock or from a bad educational viewpoint. Jenkins simply says “how could we

In the NFL’s first fourteen seasons, a grand total of thirteen African Americans got to play football professionally. In 1920, only two black men played, then nine in 1925, but back down to two in 1933. To play football professionally, an individual had to attend college where he would have played football for his school, and once his college career came to an end, he would either be put onto a team, or start a different career. If an African American came from an upper-class family, which was totally possible, and had a passion for football, he would attend college and play college football until the time of his graduation where we a pro team could pick him up. A man by the name of Joe Lillard got

“Football became my ticket to a college scholarship which, in western Pennsylvania during the early ‘sixties, meant a career instead of getting stuck in the steel-mills” (4). Football is the number one

In order to convince the reader about the dangers of high school football, Billinger shares the stories of former football players and the long range effects of them playing football. The story of former Permian player Joe Bob Bizzell showcases the effects and dangers of playing football in high school and beyond. Bizzell shares the fact that “he felt [the effects of football] in the mornings when he couldn’t bend over to tie his

Obviously, Brandon has never been the most talented or athletic individual compared to his football peers. Throughout his entire life, Brandon was told that his football career would amount to nothing. He was told that he was too “short” and too “fat” to ever be good. Instead of listening to what everyone had to say about his future, Brandon decided to defy the odds and determine his own fate. Determined to strive for excellence, Brandon persevered through adversity and refused to let the negative remarks of anyone bring him down. Through hard work and dedication to the game, Brandon continued getting better until he could reach the next level and make it to the pros.

“‘Athletics last for such a short period of time. It ends for people. But while it lasts, it creates this make-believe world where normal rules don’t apply. We build this false atmosphere. When it’s over and the harsh reality sets in, that’s the real joke we play on people’” (Bissinger xiv). “Friday Night Lights” shows the darker side of high school football. Players are taught to play games to win, and thats all that matters. Football players are put under a tremendous amount of pressure, almost enough to be considered unfair. Even though football is a “team sport”, pressure on individual players is unnecessary. Some players have the burden of the team, the city, their family, and their future, resting on their shoulders. These players

Football isn’t just about going on the field and playing 4 quarters against another team every week. It’s not just those Friday nights going to watch your high school team play. Football is a brotherhood, it’s your second family. It’s making memories that you will have with you for the rest of your life. It’s the hours of preparation, sweat, tears, blood, bumps and bruises and going back out everyday just to give it your all. Football isn’t just a game that i’ve played it’s something that has shaped me into the person I am today.

The novel begins with preseason football in the heat of a Texas summer. The players and coaches practice over 4 hours a day in 100-degree weather. The media is affecting every player pushing for a state championship and college scouts at every practice. The boys who gave completely of themselves for their sport are unique personalities. From dedicated quarterback Mike Winchell to Harvard-bound Brian Chavez to the inscrutable Ivory Christian, the team was full of young men who were singular human beings, each one bringing something special and indefinable to their group. And that's just scratching the very surface.The book recounts the tragic story of Boobie Miles, team’s star running back who had been highly recruited by all of the major programs. He is expected to attend and earn a scholarship to a large state college. The community

With most college football players in the 20th century being indigent athletes, coaches had to find a way to get the best of the best players for their team. Even if they had to pull a

Gregg Bingham was born on March 13th, 1951 in Evanston, Illinois just 12 miles north from the city of Chicago. Bingham played tight end at Gordon Tech High School, (now known as DePaul College Prep) but soon changed to a defensive lineman later because the position fit him more. Bingham unlike most people at the school, started on varsity his freshman year. Bingham was a brilliant student and was offered scholarships by many Ivy League schools, such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth and others. But the reason Bingham chose Purdue over all these Ivy League schools was that when he visited the campus he asked a woman at the front counter where the Coke machine was. The woman started to explain but then showed the machine to him. He was impressed that this woman took her time to show him this Coke machine, and she did not even know that he had received a scholarship offer for football from the university!

He is eventually cleared to play through court cases and relentless commitment by the school’s administration. In the midst of all the madness and all of the hype surrounding high school football in Texas, it is clear that there is no recognition of the importance of education. There is so much emphasis put into high school football in these communities like Odessa that athletes pour all of their hopes and dreams into it. Ultimately once these you athletes are eventually stripped of the game of football, their futures are jeopardized and their lives are irrevocably damaged. They are finally exposed to the real world more underprepared than ever. Fundamentally all that is left is a few memories of athletic stardom and still an inadequate education.

From September 11, 1924 (Moritz 270), through the late 1960’s, Tom Landry accomplished a lot of things in his life, and set new trends for many years to come. Whether it be high school football star, or flying combat missions with the United States Air Force. Whether it be playing collegiate football, and really excelling, or actually moving on to a professional football career. Whether it be transforming from player to coach, and leading way for years to come and different programs; Tom Landry had experienced it all. Tom Landry was a great coach and player, whose leadership made him a hero, and a prestigious name in the football world.

Simpson and Cowlings joined the football team in high school and were both named to the all-city team. He led the team in scoring his senior year in high school. Being great on the field Simpson thought he had a greater chance at being recruited into a college but, his field ability didn't match the academic standards of being accepted into college. Simpson planned on to join the U.S. Army, but when a friend came back from Vietnam with a leg missing. He then changed his mind instead, he and Cowlings enrolled in City College of San Francisco (UXL Biographies, 2011). Seeing his friend come back with a leg missing opened his eyes that with a little more effort he could create a better future for himself.

Sports are a significant part of society and spectators enjoy particular events regardless of the type. However, there are many players who develop special working and social relationships with whom they are participating regardless of the type of sport. The relationship and how people interact with one another can be the determination of how successful a team can be. The particular film based on a true story that I chose is titled When the Game Stands Tall. This film consists of a high performing football team of De La Salle High School in the state of California. Jim Caviezel portrays the head coach (Bob Ladouceur) as a man with such vision and passion that goes beyond the fundamental principles of coaching the game of football. The football team had won 151 games without being defeated which is the highest winning record a team has had in the game of football. The film shows the internal struggles of the players in their lives as people, and how they perform on the field. It also shows the external tragic difficulties that they face while they attend and play for De Le Salle High School. In the movie, the head coach helps the students/players by not only coaching them but also showing them how to live a flourishing life by committing to endure difficult life situations and the way to overcome them. He helps teach the principles of brotherhood and companionship with the team that they build. In the movie, the head coach and the staff had taught the players

The “contradiction at the heart of big-time college football,” as Michael Oriard describes it, is the competing demands of marketing and education. The 1890s proved to university administrators that there was an enormous market for collegiate football, which postulated opportunities for university building. Since this ubiquitous realization, there has coincided this blatant, yet unchanging contradiction that academic institutions are permitted to profit off of the services provided by its student-athletes while the athletes must idly accept that they are amateurs, donating their efforts to their respective schools. The schools then direct this revenue toward strengthening their athletic departments, and thus continues this seemingly endless growth of big-time college sports, all while athletes remain uncompensated and academics continue to take a backseat.