Football

Well, if any Greenville High people who went to school with me read this, they will tell you that I did not play football in high school. Actually I was a huge football fan in high school, but I didn't really get into it until my little brother began playing when he got to the seventh grade. He started out playing rec league football for the Mauldin Mavericks, and it turned out that he was pretty good. His coaches had him playing every position on the field! Now I have always been my brother's biggest fan, but I also have a very addictive personality. So when I started going to his games, my late blooming obsession with football got worse from there. When I got to college, I finally started to put on some pounds and fill out a little bit. Next thing I know, I am being asked to play intramural flag football and be on the offensive and defensive line. I was thinking "Sure, what could it hurt - it's flag football." Well, there was my first mistake. I wasn't too clear on the rules when we first started playing; I thought it would be like flag football in high school PE - Boy was I wrong! It turned out that the rules allowed full contact on the line of scrimmage...and we even had a "Hit Zone" designated in a three yard wide area all the way down each sideline of the field! I will never forget lining up for the first play, and I was supposed to block just one guy in front of me. His name was Aaron and he played on the baseball team for Erskine; his nickname was "A-train". Well, let's just say the ball was snapped, and he simply ran me down like a train zipping through fog. He was aptly named. Fortunately, the play was a run play going the other way, but I definitely caught the "A-train" that night. He pulled me up after the play, slapped me on the rear, and said,"You ain't no fortress yet, kid!" That would turn out to be my nickname later, but not before I put on twenty pounds of muscle. So, although I enjoyed the rugby style flag football, and it toughened me up a bit, I still had to have a taste of tackle football every Thursday or Friday from then on. I would make special trips just to see my kid brother play rec ball, and become an "A-train" himself, knocking people down and causing snot bubbles to appear in their face masks. After my fill of those games, the chance to go to Clemson games came every so often, and of course I jumped at the chance to go if I was invited. Whatever girl I was dating at the time had to give in to the Ever-Precious football schedule, which usually took precedent over any other boyfriend-girlfriend outing, or even the eventual fiancee-related events/ dates. So college went by, and as I kept getting bigger in the weight room, my little brother got bigger as well. So I got to still play our rough-and-tumble "flag" football, and my brother Adam got into high school football for Greenville High. While he was getting better and seeing some good playing time for varsity at a young age, I was getting more acquainted with the weight room and actually began personal training for the YMCA right out of college. I also got to coach some basketball and baseball. Eventually, my brother graduated with a pretty good high school football career. Although this left a small void in my yearly obsession, I still attended Greenville games. I also read up a lot on the game; studied books on the fundamentals of the game. Then one Friday night late in the season a year after my brother played, the team doctor and I got into a conversation, and he found out I had been personal training, and he saw what a good rapport I had with some of my brother's friends. He told me I should talk to the Coach about a job with the football team, as a strength coach or something. So I did at the end of that season...and before I knew it, I was coaching C-team players on the offensive line, and varsity players in the weightroom. Now although this doesn't sound like much to a lot of people, it was everything to me. Because like I said, people who went to high school will tell you... I was the skinny runt in school who never would have made it on the football field. So, to sum things up, a true football player, I am not, nor ever have been. But I still feel more connected to the sport of football than any other, and the funny thing about it is I owe it all to my little brother. Thanks, bro!