3:53 left in the fourth quarter. My teams down by 7 on the 5-yard line then boom, all of a sudden I go down and I wake up in the locker room. How did this happen? Here’s how it all began.
In my junior year of high school I began playing football in an organized league for the first time since I was eight. I was the quarterback on the team and when I played I made sure I always got the attention that I wanted. I was always careful especially when it came to my health. I was one of the best players on the team. It was getting close to the playoffs and I trained for it everyday. The day was here, the first round of the playoffs. My team was projected to win it all. And this is how it happened.
I was scrambling on the 5-yard line trying to find an open receiver, when all of a sudden a defender hit me from my blind side. He hit me so hard and I landed right on my shoulder of my throwing arm. After the hit, all I remembered was waking up in the locker room. They told me I suffered a concussion and dislocated my shoulder. We also lost the game. After they told me what had happened I felt like I didn’t do my best and I felt like I let my team down. I returned back to practice the next week and everyone was treating me differently, even my best friend. I felt like everything was going down hill, a few weeks later when the season was over it was time for try out’s for next season. My coach was the only one that didn’t seem to be acting different with me. So then the next week my coach let me watch the tryouts to see who was good enough for the team. My other teammates got mad at the fact that he let me do it, but I didn’t let it bother me. My teammates left me for a reason that I couldn’t understand, it wasn’t my fault that I got hurt. I wished I could of re-did that night so everything could be the same again. I knew I had to do something about it so I spoke to my team. After the whole problem was settled we started getting back to normal. We all became closer then we were in the beginning because we all learned how we can get passed our problems and keep moving forward.
But apparently things weren’t going to be as easy as it seemed. The next season began and we were on a roll, we couldn’t lose. But then things started turning for the bad again. My shoulder started giving me problems and it held me out of some games. There were days when I couldn’t even lift my arm; there was no way I was going to be able to throw a ball. Some of my teammates went back to their old ways of treating me like trash, but some stayed by my side. I tried everything I could to get myself healthy enough to play again, but nothing was working. My doctors advised me not to play because my shoulder would only get worse and there would be the possibility of me never being able to play again. I had to give up for the rest of the season so I would be able to play again in the future. It wasn’t easy, but now I play in a flag league to take out the possibility of getting hit hard and hurting my shoulder once again. I learned that sometimes you have to sacrifice to achieve a goal. It might not be the easiest thing to do, but everything happens for a reason and in the end things will always work out.
I find your monologue to be very amiable and quite inspiring. I did long jump in junior high school and i might dare say that sports are very competitive to the point where competitors are malevolent towards each other. I hope your shoulder will be well in time, and i agree to the fact that sacrifice must be made to achieve a goal; much like habits must be sacrifice to get good grades for class.