I wrote this for the current Sprayberry Football coach. He asked how playing football impacted my life. I left out the part how my messed-up shoulder can forecast the rain. The rest is accurate:
It’s funny how the smell of freshly cut Bermuda grass can trigger memories — Memories of those hot, humid, miserable two-a-day practices. Back in the summer of 1985 during two-a-days, we thought we were just playing a game. Little did we know, we were learning about life.
Not that you could have told us. We were teenagers. And as four out of five parents will agree, teenagers aren’t known for their listening abilities.
But we ran onto the practice field that summer as a group of individuals. And we walked off the field that fall as a team. Somewhere in between, we became men.
After a recent trip past Sprayberry High School, I began to think about all the things we learned that season and how I use them today in my life. Here are a few:
- How to win (and lose) as a team.
- How to depend on the person next to you.
- How to make mistakes and learn from them (sometimes by running bleachers).
- How to believe.
- How to set goals. And achieve them.
- How to live a principled, disciplined life.
- How to plow through adversity. And how to celebrate and savor victory.
We were blessed back them to have good teachers. Coach John Paty was a good man who believed in us. We were his kids. Sprayberry Football was our family.
It has been over 25 years now. We’re grayer. A little thicker around the middle. Even a little balder. Many of us have led extremely successful lives. And I think the majority of us would agree that the skills we developed on that freshly cut Bermuda practice field translated into the real world.
Sprayberry Football makes a difference. It makes a community. It makes men.
The keyboard and screen are illuminating my face tonight. The room is dark and the dog is snoring. It’s late. Very late. It’s just me and my computer that aren’t in sleep mode right now.