My journey began in third grade when I tried on my first helmet. From a very young age I did not like to lose. All it took was one person to tell me I was too “small” or that “I won’t be able to keep up and play with the older kids.” I truly did take those select words to heart. I have been short my whole life. Having friends that were so much taller than me was embarrassing at times, but the one thing I had that they didn't was strength.

Growing up I had amazing coaches that I still look up to today, but there was one coach who believed in me more than anyone, Coach Kreider. One day at practice while we were doing a drill, he stopped it and said “Lucas when you get to high school and play football you will be someone that everyone remembers”. To this day I remember those words so vividly.

Going into my 8th grade season, the second game of the season changed my life forever. It was the beginning of the game and I was playing cornerback on defense. My coach would always tell me before our games ‪“Lucas it’s not how big you are, but how big you play.” Those words meant so much to me because I always got self-conscious about my height during games.    

It was game time ‬and one of the first plays was a quarterback sneak to the right. I hit him very hard and got up like nothing happened. My shoulder felt a little strange but I didn’t think anything of it. We stopped them at the goal line & we got the ball back. When I came to the sideline I went up to my coach and told him I couldn’t lift my left shoulder. My coach made me take my shoulder pads off and he said “well son I think you broke your collarbone”.

         At halftime my dad and my younger brother came to take me to the hospital. I got in the car and my dad called my mom, he told her to meet us at the hospital because I got hurt. My mom and sister walked in and they immediately started to cry, even my younger brother. Not me though, not a single tear. The doctor came in and took me for an X-RAY. Minutes later he confirmed that I did break my left collarbone. After I heard those words I broke down. The thought of missing my last year of D3 just didn't feel real or fair. A nurse came in and helped me put on my sling. He told me that the first week of my broken collarbone was going to be brutal and sadly he was right.  

The second week after I broke my collarbone, I had a follow up appointment with my doctor. He said he didn't think it would be wise for me to play football ever again because of the certain spot the bone broke or else it could break again, requiring surgery. I said that would be impossible because I wasn't going to miss playing football in high school.

 The following year I worked harder than ever to get my strength back. Now my left collarbone is stronger than it was before. Breaking such a delicate bone at a young age made me mentally & physically stronger as a person, made me realize that life is too short to worry about the little things, and to focus on what really matters in life. As a young boy in third grade just trying on a helmet, I would have never thought a sport would have meant so much to me as it does today. Now that beautiful helmet sits pretty on my shelf, representing a tremendous time in my life that I will cherish forever.