Football

September 1, 2019

“Hit somebody until you hear the whistle.”

           

            I just finished reading information on the 50 Toughest Professional Football players in the history of the game. I actually recognized all but about three of the names, too. Were I looking over a list of the 50 toughest hockey players, I could only come up with two names. Wayne Gretsky and that other guy.

            But, football I know. Of course, I’m referring to the sport where the object of the game is for one team to knock down the person on the opposing team who has the ball. It’s wrong to knock down any person on the field who is wearing a striped shirt. That’s just wrong. The guys you hit are the ones wearing helmets, shoulder pads, and tape.

            The other sport called “football” is the most popular sport in the world. People in the U.S. and Canada refer to the game as “soccer.” Soccer is a game where both teams kick and chase a round ball for 90 minutes, at which point the team with two goals usually wins. While soccer is a tough sport played by some of the most talented athletes on the planet, I’ve never had the patience to watch an entire game.

            I doubt I could watch an entire football game had it not been for the invention of the DVR. The ability to record a game, and fast-forward through all the timeouts, referee conferences and half time discussions is such a time saver. A DVR is the third greatest invention in the world. The first and second being air conditioning and the TV remote control. Each three of those inventions is closely tied to football.  

            I have enjoyed watching football since the days of my youth. Of course, I enjoyed playing the game more than watching it. There is just something compelling about tackling a person or catching a football and running until someone knocks you down. It’s not for everyone, but back in the day, it was a blast for me.

            Of course, the game of football has changed a bit from when I played in junior high and high school. The tackling technique has definitely been altered to help prevent head injuries. I was taught to tackle by using my helmet as a battering ram. The perfect tackle involved planting your facemask into the runner’s torso and knocking him down in such a way that you end up on top of him. If the player was on his way to the ground, and the referee had yet to blow his whistle, the other players were supposed to keep hitting someone until the referee found his whistle.

            From the sidelines we would hear, “What are y’all doing out there? Hit somebody!” I’m not sure it can be explained, but there is something invigorating about making a good tackle. The sound of contact and the power required to initiate the hit just resonates. I still have dreams of tackling players.

            I used to play defensive safety, a position that requires the person to keep someone from catching a pass and tackling anyone who breaks through the line. The worst part of playing safety occurs when a running back breaks through a gap in the line and you’re the only one between him and the goal line. Trying to tackle a person in the open field is the most difficult tackle you can make. You can’t run at the guy, because it’s hard to stop your momentum when he fakes one way and runs another. You’ll end up reaching for air.

            No, the closer you get to the running back, the slower you move. At one point you just stop and wait for the impact. I remember we scrimmaged Milby High during one of our two-a-day practices in the summer. Milby’s offensive line was tearing us up. I had to make so many head-on tackles that I walked in a stagger.

            After that scrimmage the coach bragged on me for making so many tackles. He assured me he would give me plenty of playing time. He said it in front of the whole team. Somewhere between that moment and the start of our first game, the coach changed his mind. He probably noticed how much slower I was than my friend, Jimmy Hull. Jimmy was not only faster than I was, but he was, without a doubt, a much better a player than I was. That’s probably the reason he became an All State Defensive Safety.

           

            My lack of playing time during my senior year was a great disappointment for me. However, after a few decades, I began to see it as a blessing. While playing football in junior high and high school, I got my bell rung several times. After a hit to the head, I would occasionally get a hot spot inside my skull. There would be a small area that would get hot, not to the touch. It was inside my head. While I was aware what caused my hot head, I never found out the science behind the happening.

            My big brother Dennis is the only other person I know of who got hot spots. Dennis was starting defensive back his senior year. He was the kind of player who was so good that the coach kept him in the game even when his ankle was all messed up. Regardless, I can say that neither one of us ended up noticeably marred by football. We both took some serious hits to the noggin, but we’re each still sharp as a can of corn.

            And, over the years I have learned to see it as blessing that I wasn’t near good enough to be considered for a football scholarship, and to eventually make it to the pros, where I’d make the list of the Top 50 most breakable players in the NFL. Could’ve been worse. I could’ve played a year of hockey.  

           

           

                                                            end

hayter.mark@gmail.com