Football

My football playing career has come to an end a little sooner than I would have liked. I broke my left collarbone at our game on Saturday night, four minutes before halftime. We were on offense and I was running the ball and when I got tackled my left shoulder hit the ground first and there was a pop and a bolt of lightning shot across my chest. I've been thinking about it and I don't know what was different about the way my shoulder hit this time compared to the million other times it has hit the ground and I will probably never know.
I've been playing football for nine years, this year was the tenth. I started in third grade playing flag football for Manhattan parks and recreation. I played flag for fours years. My first year I had an awesome coach who really knew what he was doing and how to explain stuff to a group of rowdy third graders. It was this coach that started my playing quarterback and this wasn't because of my great athletic ability. It was because I was the only kid who would stand there and listen to what he had to say. My second year of flag football I had a group of college guys for coaches and they were not good coaches. They just wanted to have fun and didn't teach us anything, which is what led my dad to coach my team for the next two years. He got my uncle to help and we went undefeated my fifth and sixth grade year except for one tied game, since you don't do overtime in flag football. Those were two awesome seasons.
Next came seventh grade and my first year playing tackle with the Manhattan Eagles, a team started a few years before by a Manhattan C.H.I.E.F. dad.  That first year I didn't really know what to expect, although both my dad and uncle came to help coach. My uncle helped coach high school though and I didn't see him much. I ended up starting at quarterback for most of the games, because our first string quarterback had messed up his shoulder. We however didn't win any games that year. When football season started my eight grade year I was excited because I had grown some and was a little bigger than the 90lb seventh grader I had been the year before. We had a rough season that year because of the lack of big guys however we had some close, hard fought games we just weren't able to pull out. For me personally it was a pretty good season, I figured them and at one game that season I rushed for over 300yards. At the end of the season, it was actually at the last game, just before halftime I tackled a guy and broke my right collarbone so this is not a new experience for me I seem to have a way of finishing seasons. At least in eighth grade I broke it at the last game of the season, instead of the third game of the season
Next, came high school and I can honestly say that going into my freshman year and sophomore year, I was nervous. I wasn't very big and although I'd been one of the bigger guys on the field during eighth grade, now as a high school player I was no where close to big. I didn't play a ton those first two years of high school and to be truthful I was kind of a wimp, it was my junior year that I really started to see playing time. Actually I can count on my hands the number of plays I got to take off for the entire season that year. Last came my senior year. I was nervous about this year because instead of looking up to someone, I was going to be the one people where looking up to. Things started out rough, first we didn't have very many players however we had enough. We lost our first game, and we lost bad because we didn't play well. We also lost our second game however we played hard and it was because we couldn't stop one guy that we lost. The improvement from our first game to our second was huge, we had also got a couple more players so things where beginning to look bright. Then came our third game, and a team we knew nothing about. We had never played them before. Things started out okay and we actually scored first but then they started going downhill. First on our our other running backs probably tore his ACl and then just before halftime I broke my left collarbone. We did end up losing the game although even after losing two skill players, and we only had a few. We had more size this year than before which is awesome except we had fewer ball handlers and less speed and after the game Saturday we have two less ball handlers. Even with these setbacks I saw some guys really step forward and take leadership. The team did an excellent job adjusting.
I'm pretty disappointed that this is how I had to end my senior year of football. This wasn't how I thought my last game would be but I'm thankful I've been able to play as long as I have been and that my dad and uncle I have been there pretty much every step of the way.

This is from my first year of flag football in third grade. I'm the one closest to the camera with blonde hair.

 These two are from my last game of my senior year. In the bottom one I'm caring the ball.

Well this week is rather exciting or at least tonight is. The Eagles first football game is tonight playing Blue Valley at Randolph. I am pretty nervous though because we only have ten players who can suit out and one of those has been sick all week. Even with those small complications I believe we are ready for this game.  Tuesday however I will probably come into class black, blue and, hardly able to move, I'm going to take a beating tonight as well as every Friday night between today and the end of October and I pray I make it through the season without any serious injuries.
On a different note I just finished a small welding project. My grandpa mows yards in manhattan and needed his trailer ramp rebuilt. It was broken in half on one side and then was built heavier than it needed to be. It almost took a tractor just to lift the ramp. It took me longer to build then it should have just because I never seem to have any spare time.  It didn't take much to do. It was a lot easier than the ramp I built for my trailer. This ramp is just a square covered in expanded metal with hinges on one side that attach it to the trailer. My ramp was a bifold. It was two pieces on four foot long and the other three foot long. These were attached with hinges so that the ramp folds out to seven feet long or can be used at only four feet long.  The only problem with the design of my ramp versus the one I built for my grandpa, is that mine is incredibly heavy. Someday when I am old I won't be able to lift it that is for sure.