Luke Stroud

Ms. Snyder

May 1, 2020

English 2

The Kid That Just Wanted to Play Football

        Life is full of ups and downs, struggles and hardships. Everyone is bound to go through adversity, but it’s how you deal with adversity that tells it all.

        My fifth and sixth grade years I was always known as the big kid, both in school and most especially when it came to football. My fifth grade year I got to play tackle football for the first time ever. I thought that it was going to be so much fun. The thought of being able to tackle someone to the ground, for fun was mind blowing. And then when the season started, I put in for one snap of a game, and then I got pulled out. I was pulled out because it didn’t look like I had to drive to play. Yet I was told that I was the hardest working person on the field. “How did that logic exactly work?” Don’t ask me, that was the constant question going through my head. I loved the sport of football, and still do, but this definitely made it harder to want to participate in the sport that didn’t seem to love me back.

        I loved the sport to the point that as a fifth and sixth grader I was working out and eating nothing but chicken and salad. And when I got nothing back in return, in the form of being able to play the sport that I love made me very frustrated. At that point in time I did not feel like trying would get me anywhere when it came to football. I was just about to never play football again, I just wanted to quit. I was done trying to be on a team that wouldn’t even recognize the effort I was putting in. I couldn’t stand it anymore, I hated being on the team to the point that any extra gatherings that the team did, I didn’t go. So I decided to join a new team, the sharks, this team it didn’t matter your way, you would play. I was on a team for two days and then I was told there was indeed a weight limit.

       At that point I was tired of always getting dealt the “short straw”, and ran away from the coach and my dad when they told me. I went to the car, locked myself in and started balling my eyes out. And then the coach came over to me and told me there was only a weight limit to carry the ball. And I said, “This big boy doesn’t need to carry the ball, he needs to block for the guy that is!” My coach immediately gave me a hug and said, “Now let’s go win!” At that practice, I was given 2 pieces of black duck tape. And from then on I was double stripe.

       I befriended a guy named Tyrese. But everyone called in Tiny. The reason we called him Tiny, was because in seventh grade he was 6 foot 5 inches! This kid was massive! I’m lucky that we never went against each other, because at this point in my life I was 5 foot 7 inches. We were best buds. He had my back and I had his. We were both on the same side of the line and there wasn’t anyone that couldn’t stop us. The coach literally didn’t run anything to the other side of the line because the other two on the other side weren’t the greatest. They were pretty soft. At one point in a game Tyrese had to go to the other side of the line so that our quarterback wouldn’t get completely destroyed after every play. And at one point I had to pull around so that we would have enough protection as well as a big enough hole for the running back to run through. That was a good year.

       And then the following year I went back to Lincoln Lutheran football, and again I saw the bench. But when I started playing for Mr. Weiting, I played every single game every, single snap. It was awesome to have a coach that wanted me to play. And now I’m a highschool football player that has a high chance to start next year. I would not be the player I am today without going through the adventure that was fifth and sixth grade football.