I started writing this on the way home from Dallas. I'd had a few things in my mind, started developing them, and decided to say something today. Through the years, by different coaches and players I've heard many speeches, and remembering them assured me that I would leave this season with more than a trophy. I would doubt that most people spend their last year at football in a way in which they would want to remember every moment - every drill, every play, every day, every week with its loss or win brought us closer together. The bonds that were \started in freshman football were still strong, and the same group picked each other up from their failures. I've tried to give all the heart I had into playing the game even though I didn't have to, and unlike some other players I stayed every day as long as I could, missing very few practices including Saturdays, almost never sitting down in laziness, and going through the same heat of weather and sweat of sprints as the rest.

Playing football, through this season more than the seasons past, I've felt and loved the friendship of the team. I never thought of the team as a "they" it's always been "we" who scored, or won the game, or had a bad practice. There were times when I had felt like less a part of the team as some, but they are outnumbered by the times I felt like an equal, just as much a part of the team as anyone else. I've gained a lot of respect for my teammates over the past season. I truthfully think I like everybody more than in the beginning. I never told anyone to do their job better than I could, and I want to thank all those who still believed in me, after I had lost faith in myself. Being part of a team isn't telling someone how to do their job, but some of it is helping people back up when they fall, and that's what I would like to thank. Especially John Bates and David Pinto. John always kept people pumped up, and had the most fire I've ever seen in someone. David always aspired to be a team leader, and I think he duly earned the title. He would talk to people individually when they were down, and bring them back up to fight again in the war of the game. He would also speak his mind to the team in times of despair or great emotion. I admire these two above most, and deeply appreciate what they saw in the rest of us to bring it back out when we had let it start to slip away.

I know there are some players who will take up these unofficial positions in years to come, and they need to remember that the sport is larger than just a game or a team of individual egos. See the heart in the players and get them fired up, or bring up their spirits when they feel down. Friendship and unity goes a ways farther than playing well for a few short weeks, and they will lead you to a championship along with the right leaders and mindset.
NOTE: Dallas was a bus trip for us, and the reference is to the ride home after losing the TCIL Championship game


[back]