Personal Narrative: A Career In Professional Football

I was nine-years old in 1952, and it was on a brisk August Sunday afternoon when my Dad took me to my very first 49ers game at Kezar Stadium for an exhibition contest against the Cardinals, from Chicago. As I remember the weather was overcast and the temperature a cool 60 degrees.

It was a casual Friday morning, a little bleaker and laid back and no one was in a rush to get to where they needed to go. I was moving along at my casual pace and the only difference i had felt that i hadn’t encountered throughout the previous mornings of my football games, were the butterflies in my stomach. I was nervous, and I don’t usually get nervous the morning of my football games. But I was, and I couldn’t get this desperate feeling in my stomach to go away. I had tried everything but my body knew, with Michael out a lot more responsibilities would be pointed towards me offensively and defensively. I was worried that I would make a mistake and cost our team an undefeated, hard-fought season we had spent hours getting better in.

It was a nice day so I wanted to see if my friends could play, I rode my bike to Alex and Tony’s house. I got to the door and rang the bell.

In my opinion it is the best sport that I have ever came in contact with. Between Baseball, Basketball, Tennis and Track I believe that Football is the greatest sport ever created. It is my favorite thing in popular culture right now. The game of Football also allowed me to build character and grow as a person, and it taught me how to preserver through adversity. This game has enhanced my perception about commitment and sacrifice. This sport is the reason that I am able to attend the Howard University. This game is also a good stress reliever; I mean who wouldn’t want to hit someone legally without getting in trouble.

Well for me, football is my top favorite sport. When I was in school, I had a problem with authority, and teachers would often make me mad. I tried hard to control my aggression, frustration, and anger. I jumped into drugs and cigarettes to fights and gangs. Because nothing I tried worked, I went to football tryouts. I felt happy and excited for the first time in a long time; I eventually got on the field and ran and ran.

It was just another school night in the seventh grade. Our recreational tackle football team had a practice at 730pm until 9. It was a very swampy night and from that I felt myself very sluggish. At the time, I was a backup running back. I was always left on the sidelines facing the chills of the cold wind during games. I typically didn’t get to see much playing time on the field, but that night I got my opportunity. I was receiving kicks during a punting audition and all I was doing was catching the ball and throwing it back, nothing unique. One throw after another, my coach began to praise my arm strength. Seeing me pass the ball was a true eye-opener. That night, I went from a backup running back, to the starting quarterback of my rec

I was lucky enough to have him by my side for all 17 years of my life that I’ve lived. He’s truly a role model and has been through many obstacles and had to overcome adversity. On January 25th of this year, my mom died in a car accident. She was a diabetic and was under a lot of stress. After dropping my dad off at the hospital for work she had low blood sugar and ended up having a heart attack behind the wheel. That took a toll on me. It was the worst day of my life. I never pictured myself growing up without having both a mom and a dad. It hit me so hard that I didn’t want to go to school again and i was strongly pondering quitting football. My whole football team wanted to be there for me and I’d have to say thats one of the reasons i didn’t quit. The biggest reason i stuck with it is because I knew my mom would want me to. She knows that since i was little i’ve wanted to be a football player so now, i do it in her name. Moments like these in my life have made me the strong, hard working individual that I am right now. Last year, during my junior season in the Spring game I tore my rotator cuff and my labrum on my right shoulder completely. I had surgery and now I am healed and ready to get after it my senior year. So far, I’ve been talking to schools like Illinois, Illinois State, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Idaho, Miami, and

This is probably the most popular and used play in football. This play requires that the running back runs off the outside hip of the tackle.

But I got up after every play, stood right back in the huddle, echoed the next play to our offense, and did the same thing all over again. I began to hate my position and hate playing the sport. But I continued to fight because it represented something bigger than myself. I knew the sacrifices my teammates were making for me, so I did everything in my power to help them out as much as I possibly could every Friday night. But my performance relied on my decisions within 1.5 seconds. Sometimes, those quick decisions did not always benefit me or the team. Late in our season, I threw an interception, and out of anger I went full head of steam to tackle a much bigger outside linebacker, injuring my shoulder, and ending my football career right there on the field. If I could go back, I would've checked for the zone pass coverage like I was coached to, and saw that outside linebacker drop into my receiver’s zone and avoided and interception. But I wouldn't have changed my reaction. Had I not made that tackle, the linebacker would've cruised into the end zone, scoring a touchdown. The instantaneous decisions people make can be

I never expected my life to turn out this way!! 2020 Darren Clayton enters the NFL draft to contend against top players most teams wanted. I was surprised that I had made it that far.Now imam take you back to my childhood. I was only 10 years old in 2010 I wasn’t really a football lover, I was mostly a basketball fan. I mainly played basketball and watched it more than football. I never played football in my life the only sports I played was basketball and baseball but I never pursued it to the fullest it was just something I would do in the mean time to kill sometime in elementary school and middle school. In middle school I got curious about football so I joined the flag football team and played at an tournament against other people. At the tournament we played three teams, we only won

Saturday morning, and sweat is running down my face. Dirt is covering every inch of my body. Breathing hard I hear the coach scream “GO!”. Already tired I force my beaten body to run as fast as I could. I see my opponent come into my view, and I know what I have to do. Speeding my way towards the ball I tackle the kid in front of me. In the distance I hear satisfaction from my coach. “Nice tackle Dylan, you get better everytime I watch you.” applauds my coach. I thank him for noticing that I have been working hard throughout these two a day practices. Sprinting my way towards the  next drill I run my coach's words through my head which helps boost my confidence for what is to come next. I was halfway through the week filled with these gruesome two a days, but I knew from my improvement each day I would make it.

My plans when I get older where like every other child's. I want to be in the NFL. To get where I am you have to start at a young age. I showed up at practice everyday and on time. I also studied the play sheets and went through all my routes. I studied day and night to be where I am. It wasn't easy. There was no time to play games get in trouble do drugs or hang out with friend on an everyday bases. You have to tighten up be a man. It's not like I woke up one day and I was starting running back I had to do what's right stay in school not miss a day because that one day could have been the most important day ever and I wouldn't have even known. You know why?? Because I was and didn't show up to school. Don't be that person I used to be.

From gaming to the field be sure to always be on my team, I'm not afraid to lead us to victory and push you to your full potential. If you know me at all you would know I'm a team player just look at what I play. I play sports that involve a team not just myself. I love being team leader but I’m always ok if someone else wants to be in charge. Who I am is someone who isn’t afraid to lead but won't support the next guy to lead because I want to strive to make the greatness show in others.

It was a warm summer morning on August 28, 1998 when my mother went into Sioux Valley hospital to give birth to a baby boy. After an agonizing 15 hours in labor, I was born. They named me Bryce meaning “Nobel One.” My full name was Bryce Jay Edberg, I got this middle name after my father, which his middle name was also Jay. Being born at exactly 4:03 a.m., with a staggering 23 inch body and weighing 10 lb 4oz the delivery was nothing less then painful.

Growing up as an athlete wasn’t always easy, but it taught me how to overcome obstacles, and persevere through pain. Sophomore year, I played an entire season of club ball with a sharp pain in my calf, and was too scared to say anything about it because I knew that an injury meant falling behind. The pain started off small, but each time I played it became less and less bearable. There came a point when I would look at my mom on the sidelines in tears and tell her that I couldn't do it anymore. I remember the frustration I felt when I finally went to the doctor and they couldn't tell me what was wrong, but ended up putting me in a boot anyways. I was going to miss my last few games and the next seasons tryouts. I was devastated. The pain and