The Football Team-Personal Narrative

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.

September 20, 2011 was the day that everything changed. Practice that day was long and excruciatingly hot. My coach did not let me take a rest as I was the only full back we had at the time. Hit after hit, it started to add up and my world was spinning but coach told me to keep going, so I did. The very next snap my world got wrecked. My form became lazy because I was beyond exhausted and dehydrated, my head lead my attempt to break the tackle and the kid making the tackle lead with his head as well. Just like that my body went numb, everything was dark, my eyes were open but I could not see. I had no sense of where I was and where I was going. My name left me. At this point I did not know if I was dead or alive. This was the last time I was ever able to strap up and play the game of football. This is what happens to the millions of kids who play football on a daily basis. Somebody was there telling them to go back in even when they were showing early signs of a concussion. The athlete takes one more hit straight to the head out of poor form or exhaustion and then everything goes from bad to worse. These events take place at such a young age that the long term side effects can be fatal.

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.

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.

We left Garberville, CA at 5 a.m. We knew it would be a long haul ahead of us. I slept on the floorboard of the back seat of Holly’s truck for the first couple of hours. Holly was a funny outgoing and straight to the point person. Along with us were my Mom and Dad, Dylan(Holly’s husband) and there two kids Ashley and Clayton. Dylan was a tall red head that is always the life of the party. Ashley was a short dirty blonde girl that loves her horses. And Clayton, clayton was just like his dad a big built red hair with blue eyes and super outgoing. Finally were my parents. My Mom and Dad we both very active outgoing people who got along great with Dylan and Holly and their kids so we knew it was going to be a fun week in Winnemucca. We

I could hear it, the bell, signaling a touchdown. Except this time it wasn’t one of my teammates, it was me. Oh how I had dreamt about hearing that bell it was the ultimate sensory experience. I knew at that moment that there was a reason you never stopped believing you could do something.

It was opening night for our football team, a chilly night in September against one of our rivals, the Nickerson Panthers. The stands were packed like a can of sardines. Our team had been ruling the scoreboard all night, but now the panthers were in the red zone threatening to score. Three years ago we wouldn’t have had a chance against this team, but now we had the upper hand. Through the weightlifting program and improvement of team building, success is inevitable. Our football team is a great example of how hard work and great leadership not only pull a group of kids, but also a whole community together.

This wasn’t just your typical football practice before your first game, this was trying to get everyone hyped after a rather laid back Monday practice. This was a more competitive practice than usual, trying to get everyone motivated for the first game against Clarksburg. Coach Song thought it would be a good a time to divide everyone up into teams, Team Zuckerman and Team Johnson. The teams were named after our running back and myself, who were voted team captains. In between drills we would have little competitions between both teams to try to bring a competitive edge for everyone to get excited for practice. Emotions were at an all-time high because Coach Song had yelled at us after the first practice to get us excited to on

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.

sports or how to play it and how they think wer are sensitive, overemotional, and useless plastic barbies that sit still, and look pretty all day. We all decided to play some sport. What sport? American football, not soccer.

It all started at school. Everyone on the team was wearing their jerseys. Later in the day we had a pep rally in the school gym. It was a lot of fun and got us all pumped up for the big game. There were food and drinks for everyone and I had a good time. The next day was our game and I was focused on winning.

The mixture of dread and excitement come as I walk onto the court. It’s eight in the morning and as I look around, everyone has a tired look on their face. The parents all have coffee and look half asleep. On the other hand, the coach is pumped up. I slip my shoes on not really noticing what I’m doing. Our first game on a new team. We are expecting a team we have played team before but when they walk in, we get a real shock.