Personal Narrative: Our Football Team

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.

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.

Football wasn’t just a sport for me. It shaped my life in a lot of different ways it helped me become the person I am today. I started playing football when I was twelve years old when I started play it became the best sport ever. I started learning how to do a lot of different stuff on the football field. Football allowed me to take my anger out on the field.

Our team went undefeated for our first 16 games, and then our 17th game we had our first tie. We were used to killed the team we tied to, but that proves if you don’t come ready not everything is going to go your way. Some of the kids kind of took it the wrong way. We won 14 more games after that and kept playing strong. Then we had our final playoff game to see who was going to state or not.

I was not expecting this at all We’ve played 11 games in the pre-season now we’re in the playoffs. We got a buy in the first round. “Next week we’re playing cary it's at carys field” said my teammate. I told my teammate ‘’we could do this’’.

Call it failure to capitalize on an opportunity or failure to commit 100% effort to my team; both would be true and both failures lead to lessons learned my junior year on the high school varsity soccer team. From the time I was little, with my dad as my coach, success came easily and failure was a concept not easily grasped. Playing on the JV team my first two years of high school was pretty much a given, and in hindsight, I realize how valued I was on the team. I started most of the games both freshman and sophomore year and played a significant amount. As my junior year was approaching, I knew this was not going to be the case. Desperately wanting to make the team, lots of training and hard work was how a majority of my summer free time

My stomach tightened. I had never played free safety before. The ball was snapped, and I watched as the tailback widened out to receive the pitch. Never had I felt such an adrenaline rush.

Football has been a big part of my life for as long as I could remember. Ever since I was in 2nd grade football has been my passion. Currently, I stand at 6”8, 260 pounds and I play right tackle for the Fayetteville Bulldogs. Football has shaped me up to the young man I am today and helped me get through the most tragic moment in my life.

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.

As the bells rang out Edgar gleefully said , “ Hurry up James we need to get there in time to be picked, or else we’re gonna be stuck with the nerds out in the field watching!”, as he ran out to the field toward the road where we would be playing tackle football.

I was an incoming freshman, two weeks prior to my first day of high school, and I was terrified. I knew that I loved the sport of football, however I had heard stories from my brother about how tough Stepinac’s freshman football coach was. Everything that I was told was true. One of the coaches great lessons that he taught me was that a hardworking disciplined team is typically more successful than a team that has all of the talent in the world, but is not disciplined and does not work hard. That summer was the hardest that I had ever worked up to that point to start in a football game. The hard work never paid off, and I left at the end of that season defeated. I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t fast enough, and I wasn’t strong enough. I had only played in two of the games, one, for a snap when

In July 2013, my grandma asked me did I want to play another football season. I replied, yes, so she signed me up to play football for the Carson Colts. I was on the Carson Colts, a Junior Peewee division team. It was a challenge. I wanted to stay with my teammates, but that meant losing 30 pounds.

The chills creep up my spine, uncomfortably I notice every single person there was watching my every move. We were going head-to-head with the Vikings, they did very well at intimidating our team to death, but inside I knew we could try. They had some tall buffy people that didn't seem afraid that our dignity was high and on the line. We couldn't waste it here, right now. Next, a loud Screech the referee blew her whistle, and at that moment we knew it was time. We played as if it was the Olympics, even though it was just for fun.Then, the ball went all over the court back and forth meanwhile the crowd screaming, cheering, and excitedly saying, “Go Huskies!”

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.

I just got it last night and I have already gone through it. What am I going to do? I go through all of it like it is candy. I need to start pacing myself or this is going to get out of hand. I get more tomorrow but if anyone found out, it would be bad. I need to make sure no one is around this time. Last time, I almost got caught. Maybe I could get him to give it to me before the football game.