Memoir Rough Draft

My very first day ever of football pads was one of the scariest days of my life. So much was happening that I was afraid of. I was new to football and I did not have a clue what was happening around me. The only thing I was concerned with was surviving that day and making sure that I did not get hurt. The main events that impacted that whole day were when I was walking out to the field, when we read the warning label on the helmet, the hitting and tackling drills, and the running that we had to do after that.
The first thing that I experienced that day was the walk out to the practice field. It was cloudy day. As I was walking out the only thing that I could hear was everyone else talking about how glad they were to be back in pads. I, however, did not even know exactly how to even put the pads in the correct places. I did the best I could and kept walking out there. When I got to the gate, one of the seniors asked me if was nervous. I told him I was and asked him if I had managed to put my pads in right. I had only put one knee pad in upside down, which the only difference that makes is that the logo is pointed down instead of up. The senior told me that I just had to make sure that I went full speed and that I would be fine.
The next event was a mandatory part of high school football, where the coaches have us read the warning sticker on our helmets so that we aware of the dangers that come with playing a high contact sport. The label said that it is illegal to spear, butt, or lead with the helmet when playing football and that doing so can result in injury to the hitter or to the person being hit. The helmet also said that playing football can still result in these injuries accidently, and that no helmet can prevent these injuries from happening. This stuck with me because when I first got my helmet I had not thought about what would happen when I was playing, I just thought that it was cool and made sure that it fit me right. But when we started to read that helmet warning label out loud, I realized that I could get hurt playing this sport. I thought that the chances of me getting hurt were probably double since I had never played before and I was surrounded by kids who had all at least played organized football before. My mind started to race and I was thinking of what might happen to me. Whether I became paralyzed because I had jammed or even broken one of bones in my back or neck, or I might suffer a concussion and not know what was happening around me. After we had finished reading the label, I decided that I could not just walk off the field, and that the only thing that I can do is to try and make sure that I did not get myself hurt.
The next thing that happened was Coach Steele yelled out “Hitting Drills” and started giving out instructions to the coaches on what drills to run, and split players up and sent them to one drill. The linemen, which was my group, first got the angle tackle drill, which when you do not know what other drills there are, you think is terrible. The angle drill is where one player carries the ball, and the other is a tackler, you both run full speed to whichever side the coach tells you to, and you either try to tackle someone or run through someone. Some of the biggest kids on our team went first and when I heard them hit each other, I became scared for myself. I managed to hang back on the tackling side but I had to run the ball once, and when the tackler was coming at me, I remembered what the helmet said about lowering your head, which was my first instinct after I had seen so many others do so, and stood straight up. I got tackled pretty hard but I walked back to the line and just waited. Then the whistle blew, and everyone ran to the next drill which was where you lift someone up and carry them ten yards back.
In this drill there was no hiding, everyone got a partner and I was unfortunate enough to get a kid who was a good 3 inches taller than me and about 100 pounds heavier. He went first and I was no problem for him. Then it was my turn. I managed to pick him up, but I dropped him short. When he realized the trouble that I was having he tried to help me out by jumping up on my back a little bit and walking backwards. I was thankful because this saved from the wrath of a coach accusing me of a lack of effort. After 2 minutes of that it was time for another drill, however, during the transition some players slowed down before they reached the next drill, so Coach Steele made everyone go back to the previous drill and start over again. I was lucky that Justin Virtue, my original partner, was my partner again and he helped me through again. The next time the whistle was blown, everyone sprinted to the next drill because no one wanted to experience the same drill over and over again.
The next drill was a very uneventful one in that all you had to do was tackle a pad over and over again. When the time finally came to switch, everybody made sure to sprint because the memory of the last time was still fresh in their heads. I could see the next drill and I did not like the look of it. All I could see was everyone in a circle, and I could hear the clash of pads again. I finally got to the last drill which brought more dread then relief. The whole team would be together, except for quarterbacks and kickers, would be together for this drill and some people were excited for it. It was called the hamburger drill. In it there is a running back, an offensive lineman, a defensive lineman, and a linebacker. The point of this is for the offense to score and the defense to stop them. The reason why I feared it so much was not because of the hitting but about my lack of knowledge of where I go. I did not have a clue where I would have to line up if got forced in there.
I was hoping to just lie back in this drill as well, but that was not going to happen. After a couple of runs, the older defensive lineman, who had been going, were tired and did not want to go. One of the other linemen told me to get in there. Rather than try to argue with him and have the team run because I did not want to embarrass myself, I went in there. I was lined up against Justin again. As I was getting closer, I managed to ask him where I went and he told me “Line up right in front of me.” So I did just that. The coach in charge said “Ready” and I tensed up. Then he blew the whistle and I did my best. I got blocked but I felt relieved because no one was laughing at me and I had not got hurt. I jumped out of there and waited. It was looking like I would have to go back in but the coaches ended the drill and gave us a water break.
On the sideline, I found my friend Josh and he asked me if had hit anyone. I told him had but did not tell him that it was not because I had tackled them, which is what he wanted to know. After a little break Coach Steele called for a look defense. I had no idea what this meant but I was lucky because the starters ran out there. After about ten minutes, the senior who asked me if was nervous asked why I had not been in. I told him that I did not think that I was allowed in there. He told me to go ask Coach Hyer, who was the coach of the defensive line. He told me that I could and put me in at defensive line. When I lined up in my position, I started to think about what might happen, but then I tried to forget about it, and just concentrated on the play. On the first and second plays nothing happened. On the third play the play was a run to my side. When I saw the running back go out past me I started to pursue him. One of the defensive backs hit him and a linebacker was starting to tackle him when I go there but I did not care at that point. Making sure to keep my head clear of all of the bodies I ran into the pile and helped bring the running back down.
I got out after that play. I was really excited because tackling him was exciting and I had found my love for football. The whole day I had wondered why I was out there when I was so afraid to do anything, but on that one play I found out why. I would eventually conquer my fear of getting hurt and start to use my head more and started to get more and more scratches on my helmet, which was a matter of pride for the linemen at least. The number of cuts, different color paints, and size and deepness of these cuts all testified to how hard you played. When you are a linemen, usually one of the first thing to hit the opposing player is your helmet, and usually the hardest hitters had the most, so everyone respected you if you had a lot of these cuts.
I am kind of glad that I got exposed to what scared me so early because if everything had started of fine, I might have quit later when things got really tough. But because I had to conquer these things to play the sport, I did not quit and was able to face even greater obstacles, and when the drills came around again, I participated in every one of them.