My Senior Year of Football

Is my career over? Will I be able to walk again? Why haven’t my coaches come over? Will I play college football? All these questions were running through my mind as I lay on the sidelines, while Beth Moore, our trainer was examining my left foot and ankle. It was the same ankle that I had broken and had surgery on in my sophomore year. I knew my senior year of football was over despite of all the hard work I had put in during the summer. I asked Dr. Beth was my ankle broken and she said yes.

Our coaches had the team lifting weight and conditioning all summer with only a week off. After, workouts my friend, Kevin and I would run three miles every day in order, to bill up our stamina and be ready for the heat during practice and games. Several times a week, we would run routes and plays with other team members. We had a grueling summer, but we felt, we would be a better team if we followed this discipline all summer.

As my senior year of high school began the entire school was buzzing about the football team this year. There was great hope and expectations. There were more people watching our practices than I had seen in my entire four years of playing. The entire town of Haleyville was talking about the seniors and their leadership. Everyone thought we would go deep into the playoffs. I had more self-confidence than ever before and the team was riding high even before we played a game.

Our first opponents were the Winfield Pirates. I had become very anxious and nervous that I could not sleep the night before. I got up and walked around the neighborhood to calm myself down. Game night finally arrived. The battle was on. There was no score in the first half of the game. Winfield scored in the third quarter. The fourth quarter rolled around and we were down by seven points. I knew this was my time to shine. I raced on the field, after we fair caught the ball. I looked to the sideline and my coach and I winked at each other at the same time....