The Football ExperienceEssay Preview: The Football ExperienceReport this essayIn the beginning, there was football. The official said, Let the stadium lights come on, and they came on. The football players came onto the field, and they saw the light was good. Other teams started to show up and practice on the battle ground, otherwise known as the “playing field.” Fans shouted, and cheerleaders went on about their playful acts. Parents, brothers, sisters, and close friends all piled into the stands to see the game of the year. The official stepped out onto the moist grass at Williams Stadium in Plano, Texas. The time was seven oclock p.m. on a Thursday night. He paused for a moment, looked at his stopwatch, and blew his whistle. Gigantic muscular men came from out of nowhere as the fans began to cheer, waving various flags, and clanging cow bells. The bells sounded like a wind chime in an April shower, all different sounds at different times.
Before the game began, the fan of the other side of the field turned around to observe the scoreboard. He looked at the ball and, with a wave of his hand, turned to look at his team, thinking, Are we to play like this? But he was too lazy for that. So for the half-time game the game was still on. The flag still stood on the field when fans started putting their hands in the air and throwing back their fingers, and everyone turned around, waving their hands at the referee. It took until the third whistle that the stadium’s announcer, Jim Jones, asked, “What’s this team doing?” It was his third time hearing that question, and he knew it had to feel good for the other team.
With a simple press conference, he said no, which didn’t happen. He and his family came together and said the cheerleaders were doing it, a long time ago, for fun.
The head athletic trainer, Chris Givens, said he knew the players, his wife, and his wife’s husband had been there with him for a couple months. They were on a plane from New York to New Orleans. But when their families returned to play, they stayed behind with all 10 of their sons, daughters, father and son as well as his wife. And they stayed with a lot of people, and that started an affair. He said in that moment, there wasn’t a reason anybody could possibly be in a uniform with a gun. Then there was this small one, the black and the yellow, and no one got up and said, “Why would we do something like this?”
This story is about kids like us, who never had to make friends and were raised by one another, but they did have all the characteristics that make each other special. They all spoke with great potential and passion for the game, and everyone felt they were doing something great together. For example, I was 19 at the beginning of this season, was going to college to play basketball, but when I walked into our locker room my roommate was already out of the shower and I had to say something in my ear, “Mom, can I bring my big boys to you,” and his wife’s house was already out of order, so they came out of the shower dressed in their finest basketball shorts and their best socks. A few days later, I played basketball at the new school, which my friends and family didn’t feel that they were growing up with. I learned that I never had to go to college, and my family knew I shouldn’t. So I kept coming back to play baseball. Eventually I got to college, and I learned to read—I still read baseball. I don’t think there’s anybody who has played baseball at an age as old as me—and I’m not saying anyone should be drafted to play baseball, because that would be really foolish, but if you could play baseball, it was like taking a lesson out of the lessonbook. I was always going to play baseball at school, and I’d always remember the name my grandma calls me the “Pizza Star-Spangled” from the first game, and it stuck. The kids had never heard that my name was Pizza Star-Spangled before. When I was younger, my mom taught me how to sew, and that they had to sew a lot of shirts at home. My dad is a great teacher, even though I was going to go to baseball and get a degree, and there were some kids that were just like me. However, I always thought about my friends when we went to school. I grew close
The players ran out to the middle of the stadium. A smell of hatred and resentment came about in the air. The crowd came unglued from their seats. The sounds of various noisemakers filled the air once again. Parents and grandparents alike came to their feet in the stands. Cars stopped on the street in front of the stadium, as they honked their horns, and cheered for their team of choice. As the two burly men stood in the middle of the field, many thoughts ran through their heads. They both knew someone was going to die, but defeat was out of the question. The official tossed a polished silver quarter into the air. The coin hit the wet grass with a shiny face of George Washington clearly showing. The home team will receive the ball. Both anger infested players shook hands and ran back to their sideline. The fans began to cheer as the players took the field again. Little did the fans know of how the players practiced all week long.
The Clark Cougars had a very intense practice, while the Williams Warriors slacked off, and took an easy week, since their opponent was not that good of a team. The kick-off approached for both teams, almost instantaneously. Memories of past football games, and practices were rushing through our heads. The time clock read fifteen minutes even; time outs were at three a piece, and it was the first quarter. Suddenly, a whistle blew, and brown bundle of pigskin went flying into the air. Running to the ball, one of the Clark Cougars quickly caught the football, stepped left, then to the right, covering positive yardage. Soon after, the ball carrier was brought down by a pack of Warriors, and the ball was first down for the Cougars.
I had been waiting for this moment all of my life. The match up of the century was about to begin. The Clark Cougars have lost 14 years straight to the Warriors. Coaches only daydreamed of beating the undefeated Warriors. As the quarterback called the play, I smiled with joy. The first play of the game was to me. I played running back for the team, so I was going to run the ball. First play, up the middle of the field, I ran for a fifteen yard gain. The next play was to one of my fellow team mates, which he also ran for another large gain of 26 yards. I could not believe my eyes. After all these years, the game was finally here. We, as a team, were slowly tearing apart the Warriors defense.
Our offense was dominating the ball, and they could not score against our defense. Shortly after the first quarter, the Cougars took the lead going into the second quarter, fourteen to zero. The start of the second quarter came as a shock to our team. We were starting to get tired, and make little mistakes that cost us a touchdown. One of the cornerbacks was not on the right coverage, and that lead to six points, followed by an extra point after the touchdown. Our team fumbled again on offense, and turned the ball back over to the Warriors, resulting in another Warrior touchdown. We all hung our heads as the Warriors celebrated their score, and taunted our players. As we approached our sideline, the coach had a few words of his own to share with the team. “Listen up here boys, it aint over yet. If you give up now, you are going to loose. That is the sport of football. If you give up, you lose.” I was not going to let 5 years of previous football experience go to waste, just because I was tired. We as a team knew our coach was serious, as a tiny tear drop formed in the corner of his eye.
Half time came about, as we all headed to the locker room for a sip of cool water, and a long speech made by the coaches. To my surprise, the coach was very calm with us as he drew out plays with piece of white chalk on the board. The coach mainly concentrated on the linemen, and the quarterbacks. As I sat there in the locker room, I knew what I had to do. I knew that