My Football Journey
 

It all started a long time ago... three and a half years ago actually. I was 10 years old, my father was watching the Patriots-Ravens game, it was a Sunday around the afternoon. He asked me if I wanted to watch it, I said no and started to play with my ipod in the same living room where my dad was watching the game. You can say my father is just like any other men, I would say different,  he is pretty tall, extremely strong, committed to exercise, and loves sports, and is really responsible, caring, works well, and loves his family.
By that time I didn’t even know what football was at that time so I basically only played soccer and basketball. I Normally  entered to after school sports and did both of those.  Soccer and basketball usually takes away my stress, like if I were to go sleep, it was what I really liked and loved to do at that time, it was what made me calm and relaxed.
My dad was constantly paying attention to the game, it was like if it was extremely important. That man really loves football, you can see that he doesn’t want to miss any part of it because he never left the couch, although he has this thing that he can’t stay awake and see the full game, he always gets asleep and gives the same excuse every time, “work”.
Half an hour had passed, I decided to get some chips, I turned left to the wide and new TV and saw a big hit made by one of the biggest football legends ever, Ray Lewis, I saw the replay a couple times and I couldn’t look away, he had totally killed the poor patriots player. “What was that!”, I exclaimed, my dad looked at me like if he finally reeled me into the game of football, but he was still very sleepy. I turned back and stayed in the clean black couch instead of going for the chips I had wanted (just know that I usually deny chips). While the game passed my dad explained every thing there is to know about football, the position, plays, players, penalties/fouls, how to win or get points, and more. After watching the whole game I realized that football was amazing, the screaming fans, the play-calling, the mad coaching staff, the tackles, and all the unbelievable catches the players made. “are there any games left”, I said hoping for a yes to come up.  There was another half an hour to wait for the game to start, we both grabbed a large bowl of popcorn from our  new kitchen and grabbed beverages for the game. Here was where my dream all started. But that was not the end, every thursday, saturday, sunday, and at monday night we would watch the games. My dad looked like the McDonalds comercial guy, you just couldn’t wipe of his smile. It seemed like my dad was proud to be interested in the game of football. As of his dream had finally had came true, wanting to pass the great game of football to the next/new generation, me. My father and I also played sometimes in my backyard with a football he had recently bought for me, he would throw the football, I would catch it, I would throw it, he would catch it and so on. The time flew by instantly but it couldn’t have been better.  These moments were probably one of the best i’ve had.

“Hey, you should go to Avispones, it’s where I played football when I was young, it was pretty fun” (Avispones is a football club inside monterrey), my father said, with the convincing voice he does so well, it’s like no matter what, my dad can convince to do anything at any time. I couldn’t find a way to say no, I told him that I would football and hope that it would be just as amazing as the the NFL (The National Football League, highlight football).
When I told my mom that I wanted to go to Avispones, I saw a huge doubt in her face.
“Don’t go”, she said, “you will get hurt”, she said with a worried voice. “It would be hard to take you there every day at 7pm, you should keep playing soccer” she continued. A piece of sweet fell down her face, it was weird because the room wasn’t hot at all. 
The thing is that my mom doesn’t want the sport to be a part of me because she wanted me safe, she’s a very nice woman and I could actually see why she didn’t want me to go. At first I thought that soccer is what I really wanted to do, that was until my dad finally convinced her.  By the middle of January, I was in the huge, grass-filled field, with green and yellow stands, a gift shop, a trophy room, and where there were hundreds of kids, some bigger than others, some fatter than others, some with soccer jerseys or football jerseys, and many coaches. The big kids were really scary though, they all looked extremely strong, some had huge muscles too.

A coach told me to go with the “Hormiguitas” category, the categories were made by age and “Hormiguitas” was the category for kids with 10-11 years old (I was 10). The teams were made as fast as the speed of light, since there were like 100 kids in that category, there would have to be 3 teams. I was in the third team, the third team was the team with only “Rookies”, and “First-Time football players”, and I had never played football in any place but at my home or at any friends house. Nobody in my team had played football, my coaches put me with the Defensive Linemen, they told me that it was the position I would play because of my strength and size.  My job was to stop the offense from the other teams to score any points against us, I needed to tackle the person with the ball and push the Offensive linemen, and that’s what I did.
We needed to train every day of the week (monday-friday). My first game was a bit hard to forget, we were tied against the Vikings in overtime, but they beat us by 2 points. I remember that I made about 6 or 7 tackles, which made my coaches pretty impressed, the field was in the League championship stadium, it was all shining clean, maybe as clean as a new car. The field goal posts there wide and yellow, it also had a huge line for the shop which had nothing but tacos, chips, corn, and pizzas. The Vikings really weren’t that though, but right at the end we lowered our heads and gave up a win. We had let ourselves down, the coaches down, and especially our parents. Although the rest of the games were really cool and exciting, in the next games we never got beat, when we went down we went back up and kept playing, until the end. So, with 5 wins and 1 loss we passed to the semi-finals, there was only 1 undefeated team: the vikings, (as expected), but my team was so good, I would've never imagined us winning 5 straight games. I looked into my friends eyes, for once, we could actually agree that we are the better team in this league, that we are the biggest, fastest, most amazing team there is, but mostly, that we were made to win. Weather it was a blowout, or a lucky last-second touchdown, or a leveled and competitive game. We controlled the games, we ran the clock, and even make clutch plays when we needed them, there wasn’t a better team.
The semi-finals game was a week after our 5th straight win, this time we were going to play against the yellow and black Halcones, the first time we had played together there was a very big difference on the scoreboard, it wasn’t surprising at all, 20-6 was the score, Avispones went with the W, now we needed to beat them again.
It was a hot day by the beginning of may, we were facing of in the Avispones stadium around the night. I remember my face burning, many fans buying freezing cold water and drinks, parents with their cameras, and all types of people from any persons family. The warmth of the sun right in everyones faces, guys sweating even before the game started, man it was just crazy, it was like the sun could literally reach out for me, and kill me with heat.
My dad was in the stands and he called me over to say, “this game is for you to win, you are very close from going to the championship, you are an amazing player, and you know it”, he had told me.
I went with my team thinking of what my father said, I saw many teammates putting their pads and helmet on. Before the game, our coach showed us some inspiring videos. We watched them in a big chair-filled room, which fortunately had air conditioning. A projector and a huge whiteboard were until the very back. That room was filled with trophies, with championships all the way from 1968 when Avispones officially started. The videos were  about players and teams fighting for the championship trophy, many dazzling throws, hard hits and perfect game-winning field goals. My hands were trembling about the game against los Halcones. I couldn’t believe that I was so close to the championship game. I tried to imagine what happened on the video to happen right on the field today.
“It’s time to go to the field!”, my coach Mosca said.
Mosca doesn’t have any hair on his head, screaming is usually the way he teached us, or corrected us when we did something wrong, but he’s still a very good coach. We all went to the field, we instantly got  ready for the game. The Halcones were practicing on the other side of the field, it looked like fat was what they most had, many players looked pretty darn fat, but a few were extremely short or skinny.
Our coach gathered us, “theres no team better than you, he said, you are all winners and you deserve to be here”, he said, “I am sure, that next week you will be in the championship game, carrying the trophy, celebrating, taking photos, high-fiving eachother, etc, the only thing we need is attitude and faith, faith in ourselves, faith in our team members, and faith in what you do”, he explained, passionately .
We headed to the sideline, in the side were the stands, it was hard to see any empty seats there. You could hear the crowd screaming long and tiring chants throughout the game, it was like their ears would’ve popped out for all the noise they were doing.  As the game went on, dominance was the only way to explain it. I made many tackles, we grabbed a few fumbles, the offense made many touchdowns, and there was never a doubt that we might lose. I remember my parents taking photos of me, I also remember finding my grandparents in the stands, waving at me with a huge smile, then I would wave back hoping they actually see me.
The huge yellow scoreboard was screaming out the number 4, which meant there were 4 minutes left in the game, there was no way to back down from this one, we couldn’t let the game get out of our hands. By the end, the game was looking to be like last years super bowl with the Broncos vs the Seahawks, where the broncos didn’t even passed 10 points while the Seahawks past 40. We were winning, the team was playing really good, you could hear many times our defense hitting the offense, bringing them down, getting up to the quarterback, we hadn’t missed any  opportunities they gave us. My couch (“pollo”, is what we called him) brought me out of the game and bring a substitute in for me, he’s that kind of person that is really fun to hang out with, he’s also the type that says many weird but funny things. He had given him a chance to play because the game was close to being over. I recall being with Lalo, a friend of mine. He was standing next to me, we were counting the time, I’m pretty sure he was crying (from joy probably). “5...4...3...2...1...0!!!!!” The game was over, we were going to the championship!!!! At that time, winning the championship would be better than anything, and winning it wasn’t only my dream, it was my goal. 
“We won”, I shouted pleased by the game, and already thinking of the next one.
The fans were cheering, the players were high-fiving and jumping on each other, and the coaches started sending the win through facebook, writing that “Hormigas 3” (my team), was going to the championship.

We huddled at the right end of the field, “We are playing the Vikings”, our coach had said, the team suddenly turned their smiles upside down, knowing that we had lost against them, and they didn’t lose a single game that season.
My dad carried me once I left the field, he, my mother, and my grandparents had been congratulating me, I grabbed my helmet and held it high, with huge amount of courage... and hope. They all had happy/proud faces, my grandfather hugged me and said that he is already looking forward to the next game. I felt an unbelievable feeling, that I hadn’t felt in a while, which was great feeling you get when you get extremely excited after you accomplish something, I just couldn’t wipe of the smile of my face. I couldn’t wait to see the reaction of my friends and family (the part which didn’t come to the game).
Along the car ride I tried to imagine myself holding that trophy in my hands, with everybody celebrating, I also imagined myself making some amazing tackles in the the game, maybe even a sack. I felt that, my team and I, could actually win against them this time and be #1 in the league. My mom couldn’t stop telling me how proud she was, while my dad kept giving me advice for the game. They also showed me some photos they had taken on the game, but most of them were pretty blurry because they were taken from very far away from the stands. I kept thinking, “we are gonna win, we are gonna win”. Since I had already lost the championship in the schools soccer championship, I knew, that this time, it was my time to shine, and I will be coming out champion.
Days had past, during those times, I watched film from the NFL’s best players ever (such as Ray Lewis, Demarcus Ware, Ronnie Lott, or Luke kuechly) , these people are amazing at what they do, they always play outstandingly and don’t disappoint, these people are the ones that make the game more interesting and play like elephants crushing the small and soft zebras. I made a lot of exercise outside of practice, playing with my friends, family, but I also tried to eat healthier stuff (everything but broccoli). It had been a hard week, although I knew that by sunday, I the best thing that can happen to me now, might happen. That day could determine my future, as a player, or a person. Then it came, that day of the week you just can’t wait to happen. It was a sunday morning, I got into my game uniform, ate breakfast and went to my car. My dad took me to Avispones’ field when I entered I only saw smiling faces, every player was enthusiastic and excited for the game. This was an amazing day for all of us, many players were just happy that they can finally start resting in their homes in the afternoons instead of needing to go to practice every day, but there were a few players which couldn’t stop talking about us being  #1.
“Beep, beep”, the bus sounded, it was like an alarm clock that wakes you up in the morning. Our coaches checked to see if everybody was there. We got onto the bus, after everyone got on it, there was no empty seat. I was all the way to the back of the bus (cause there’s air conditioning. Unlike the rest of the bus). On the ride we kept singing songs, telling jokes, talking about football, and simply having fun. There was no kid that you can see that was sad, or uncomfortable, or even relaxed, the whole bus was just extremely pumped for the game. Green grass, gatorade bottles, the 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 painted on the field, the sight of the Tigers stadium, much impatience from the team. We were dogs anxious to get their bone, a mother ready to have their baby. We felt like we were ready to take the trophy and be called champions. The field was we were gonna play was amazing, even the stands looked all new and cool.
Purple and yellow uniformed people came, with a purple helmet, purple shirt, yellow socks, pants along with white numbers written on their jerseys. They were the vikings, and all of the kids looked a lot bigger, stronger, and better than how they seemed on the first game. Before the game started we were doing our usual drills before our game: stretching, tackling, catching, etc. On the stands was my mom, dad, grandparents and cousins all looking up to me. Once I saw them the phrase “I won’t disappoint them”, came to me many times, and I wasn’t gonna do it. The players and I trotted on to the sideline, excitement was through the air. I remember losing early in the first quarter. There were many doubts and errors on the team. Things weren’t working out for us at that time. By the half we were still losing, our teams offense hadn’t really showed up and our defense had allowed 3 touchdowns. Knowing that the game was slipping through our hands, there was a few optimistic coaches and players. Our offense started of the second half. After 3 plays our running back Marcelo made an impressive play, juking and spinning players going all the way to the end zone. You can’t imagine how motivated the team got after that, although we were still losing the game.
Good things also happened to the defense, it started stopping the run and the vikings offense and didn’t allow any points in the 3rd quarter, but started slow at the start of the fourth. 7 minutes had past and the game looked pretty much over for us. Crying was very noticeable from our strong players although we still ended up the game with the love for football. The game had ended at a 34-16 loss against the vikings. This time the loss was really hard to take, we all felt like we played well but the vikings just overpowered us their team never backed down. When I came out of the field and went with my parents, I didn’t want to stay to talk to my friends on the team or eat the food which we received at the end of every game.
Now that the years have passed I haven’t forgotten the chants that sounded like my sister when she screams, our teams long touchdowns and killer tackles. Three more seasons have passed after that and I am yet to win the championship. Now entering my 5th year things have gotten a lot harder, but the games have gotten a lot better. Football’s the video game coming to life, it’s the christmas present santa brings each year, it’s the sport that brings me back to life. I’m looking forward to playing this year and possibly many more games to come. These last 2 seasons I have been on the top team on my ages category and I have really made an impact on the team, they have been as fun or better than winning a lot of money. I have learned from this that everyone has a talent in something, whether its a sport, class, skill, etc, it has brought me a whole different world with different rules and meaning, I have also learned that footballs what I really wanted to do moving forward. Besides that, football has also become my dream, I have been thinking that I really want to play in the NFL. Football has also gotten a lot bigger on my family now that they watch almost every game that they can see. Every sunday we are all looking forward to watching the interesting games. Football has really changed my life, it has always been there for me, it’s my passion and what I love to do.