Football - Part 4a

A year ago I prematurely ended a multi-part entry about my days playing high school football because Thanksgiving, the national holiday of turkey and football was over, and my law finals were fast approaching. I wish to resume that series now for no better reason than discussions with friends about Thanksgiving, and our annual Turkey Bowl, have rekindled some long dormant memories. If you will grant me this indulgence, then, I wish to re-start my story during the summer before my sophomore year.

Following my freshman season I was very unsure about whether I would ever play football again. My freshman year was successful, but I had other interests, particularly basketball and my physical health, that I was not convinced were worth the sacrifice football demanded. Despite my public assurances that I was too smart to get hurt, I honestly feared a freak injury was only a play away.

By that summer, though, I began to remember why I loved the sport - the team, the violence, and the fact that not everyone can play this game. Over the summer my new coaches tinkered with the idea of moving me to two other positions. During our morning workouts, when I was not making bets with Mc about whether or not our friend Depilla would drop the ball, I was running routes and catching passes unaware that my coaches were penciling me in as a backup tight end. When they formally asked me to run routes with the JV quarterback I caught at least a dozen in a row before nearly passing out from exhaustion and informing them that I had absolutely no interest in the position.

They then tried me out at strong safety. For several weeks I worked out with the defensive backs under the tutelage of a man we believed was either homeless or a Russian spy. He always wore wrinkled athletic pants and a two-day-old beard, and slung a big duffle bag over his shoulder that we were convinced held either his other clothes or high-powered rifle. It did not help his image that randomly in the middle of drills he would grab his bag, run away, hop the fence and catch a bus back to his other life.

While I enjoyed this experience, and welcomed the change, when the real practices began I was back at my old position, under my old defensive coach, as starting left defensive end.