Yes! I am a football player, but no I’ve never been the self-absorbed school bully who dates the hottest cheerleader unlike every Disney movie ever created. Football has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I couldn’t imagine my life without it. I started playing football at the ripe age of 4 because of my dad. He was my coach from the second I stepped foot on a field until I was about 9 or 10. Football started as an interest and hobby but became a way of life for me. It essentially was a tool that would change how I went through the rest of my life. It gave me a connection with peers that I could call my brothers on that field, in that locker room, and even outside in the streets of my city. The For many years earlier in my life also fostered a connection between me and my dad that drove me to love the sport the way I do. Football is a part of my family heritage, and kind of runs within our bloodline. Even still I had to partake on my own journey with Football to find my passion for the sport and learn of all the great benefits it provided me.
I started playing football at the ripe age of 4 because of my dad. He was my coach from the second I stepped foot on a field until I was about 9 or 10.
Playing was a way of life for me. I woke up in the morning excited to start my day, looking solely ahead to the time I would hit that field at 6:00pm. I was anxious every night when I got home to pack my gear for the next day of practice. Football was the origin of many long conversations and life lessons for me. Which all started for me in the car 1 on 1 with my dad. I took those dialogues seriously because I didn’t feel there was any other space where the communication could be more clear and as comprehensive as then. I also learned to absorb pieces of knowledge and wisdom from other male figures who were in my life as a part of the game, and I always respected it for that characteristic. I got firsthand lessons of what it looked like to truly be a man and father from many great different role models. I also got to learn how to be a part of a brotherhood of people working to give your all individually for the collective success of a team.
Football continued to shape my life by providing me with certain intangible qualities that I could have only gained from my experience in and around the sport. Discipline being a huge one of those qualities. Any football player on this earth could preach to you how paramount discipline is as an athlete period whether it comes to showing up/ being on time to practices and lifts, executing drills and plays in practice that will eventually transfer over to game day, or even just the discipline it takes to make football a priority in your life while never letting it take away from anything else that is important and meaningful to you. Without learning those types of traits, I believe it’s hard to even effectively participate in the game of football.
Though I credit Football for having such a pivotal role in my makeup as the man I am today, I also recognize and strongly believe that it has allowed me to grow and mature into other aspects of my character that creates my true identity. I have taken that same passion for football and used it to inspire commitment to other hobbies and ventures I love. I am a student athlete studying Mechanical Engineering which Is not very normal, especially at a prestigious school like Rice University. Yet my drive for knowledge and interest in technology and mechanics is just as important as my love for my sport. I also love other hobbies like chess, music/arts, and Robotics. I thank football every day for giving me the space and opportunity to learn and invest myself into finding these many interests I have and allowing myself a space to enjoy and figure out what things really make me happy. As someone who “bangs their head” all day many people would never guess that I’d be attracted to something as analytical and strategic as chess. What you do not know is that there are so many ways chess and football can be seen within the same lens. The large comparison for both of these games being an Army at war where strategy and decision-making take precedence. Things I have had to learn and excel at since I was a kid making split second decisions with a ball in my hand or cleats in the dirt. The ability to expound on my thinking process and build the ability to be very good at strategizing became addicting to me. It would even give me the opportunity to compete nationally In Jr. High with top players within our nation. Similarly, I see concepts and characteristics of football in a lot of the things that I do and enjoy. I find peace and harmony with the fact that I can use many of the lessons that the game has taught me universally to set me up for success in multiple different aspects of life and not just a game in itself. Football is a huge part of my identity but is not solely my identity. It has been a tool in my journey of life and encouraged constant evolution.
