I saw the SG homework thread and thought it would be fun to do a blog - it's something I've never done before, but I've always considered myself a decent writer, especially when there's no deadline involved. So this week's homework is to talk about a past experience that shaped who I am today. And while there are many sort of things that could fit the bill here, one experience in particular stands out as I'm thinking over.
I played football in high school. In the school where I played we played teams that were ranked in the top five in the country, so playing football at the school where I went was no small matter. The competition on my team was tough, especially at the spot where I played. I was both a linebacker and a tight end, and while I never really embarrassed myself, I was never great either. I played a lot of special teams and occasionally got in as a sub for the starters.
I was the backup at tight end, but had been sharing time with a sophomore after one of the starters had gotten hurt. Playing tight end in our offense was a pretty thankless job, because we hardly ever threw the ball. Tight ends in our offense blocked as often as the lineman did, a lot of times one-on-one with players a lot bigger than them. And I was probably the smallest tight end on our team. I was 5'9" and 170 pounds wet back then. A lot of time the guys I was blocking had anywhere from 50 to 100 pounds on me. It was no small task getting those guys blocked. And the coaches knew I was smaller, so when the starter got hurt, I wasn't always the first guy thrown in. However, I always kept working during practice to show the coaches that I should be in. I always volunteered whenever the coaches needed people for the scout team, and never backed down from the better players.
It was my senior year and we were playing one of the better teams in our conference, St. John's. The week before the game, the coaches had planned for the sophomore to start alongside the normal starter, because we played with two tight ends all the time. However, when we were warming up, the sophomore started to complain about something - I never figured out what it was. Then the coaches came over to me and told me I was starting at tight end that game. That day I probably had my best day as a football player. I was pushing people back like crazy, knocking them over. I remember a specific play where I blocked the guy so hard I actually fell on top of him as he was falling on his ass because I pushing so hard. I also got in a little bit at linebacker at the very end and had a few good tackles too.
After games and practices the coaches would huddle up the players and give their final speeches of the day. They would then choose one of the players to give a little pep talk and break the huddle. Most of the time only the stars of the team would break the huddle after the games, because they were the ones who the coaches recognized as having a really good day. But after that game, the coaches chose me to break down that huddle. At the time I merely thought it was because I had a good game, but looking back on it, I realized it was more than that. They chose me because when they threw me a opportunity, I grabbed it and ran with it. That moment taught me a few things. The first is that you don't have to be the one with the glory and fanfare to be the best player that day. Second, that people will notice when you're doing well, even if it seems like you're hid in the trenches. And most importantly, it taught me that you have to work hard so that when an opportunity comes, you can make the best of it.
