Sports and a father's push

When we were Seniors, Don Crossley and I were discussing why we continued to play football. At the time, Don's finger on one of his hands was mangled from an injury. My knees were constantly sore from sprains I suffered over the years. When I was a senior, I had to sit in a whirlpool every day to reduce the swelling in my knees. As a matter of fact, both of us sat in whirlpools in the evenings in order to reduce the pain and swelling we suffered as a result of our participation in intercollegiate football. Neither of us could figure out why we wanted to continue playing, particularly since we weren't winning many games.



At some point in the conversation, Don and I agreed that we were probably playing for our fathers. I am not quite sure why we had this moment of intellectual and emotional clarity. However, after discussing the various bumps and bruises and whatnot we suffered, we ultimately decided that we would not have played intercollegiate sports if not for the desire to please our fathers.

Fathers are amazing motivators. At the end of my first year in Pop Warner football, it came time to sign up for the second year. My father asked me if I wanted to participate in the coming year. I flatly told him no. However, dad asked me if it wouldn't be better to try it one more year. I reluctantly agreed. After winning a second league age-group championship and a bowl game at the end of the second year, I was hooked and remained playing football until my body's eligibility expired. After all, I could only play in the pros and no one was showing much interest in a 180 pound outside linebacker with bad knees.

I am glad that I played football all those years. I loved basketball too, but knew my limitations.