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Former Players -- When did you realize you wouldn't play at "the next level"?


Monte1076

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I knew my 4th grade dream of playing pro football was dashed when I lay in a Medical Center hospital bed after 3rd game senior year and overheard the neurologist telling my mother that I was just too small to even be playing high school football. He would not think of releasing me to play again.

Doc said I could do non contact sports. If he could have seen my pole vault setup he would have feinted. I stayed more bruised there than football. (Stacked up tires under foam nets) Oh well, it was an improvement from the sawdust landing we started with in junior high. :rolleyes:

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Nearly everyone has made it as a professional in something. Just because it wasn't in sports shouldn't mean anything.

 

okay.....it was 7th grade. I went from dominant linebacker to the smallest kid on the team. Then when I had my arm broken by what would be a future NFL lineman, then separating my shoulder the first week back....I knew it was time to give up the dream.

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I knew my 4th grade dream of playing pro football was dashed when I lay in a Medical Center hospital bed after 3rd game senior year and overheard the neurologist telling my mother that I was just too small to even be playing high school football. He would not think of releasing me to play again.

Doc said I could do non contact sports. If he could have seen my pole vault setup he would have feinted. I stayed more bruised there than football. (Stacked up tires under foam nets) Oh well, it was an improvement from the sawdust landing we started with in junior high. :rolleyes:

When I was a kid, we used green Bamboo canes about 1-1/2" in diameter to vault with; we had an open ended three sided wooden box with no top on it positioned in a divot in the ground for the pole to stop in & we had 4x4s with nails every inch for our crossbar(also bamboo) to rest on & we were vaulting about 6-8 feet landing in piles of pine straw... Those were the good ol' days!
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When I got there and looked around ... even at a smaller school, skill levels were very different ... no longer fun, definitely different being that a sport had become a business ... having been blessed with quality coaches in at a HS with almost 3000 kids, it was quite a shock to encounter a staff that was mostly composed of misfit jerks ... teammates were different ... lots of college-life habit stuff like heavy drinking and drugs rather than the more self-discipline talk we had received in HS and at home ... this was in the early 70's and even then it was strictly business ... it was an eye-opening experience ... lasted a couple of years in football and baseball ... don't regret it though cause it was definitely a learning experience for someone who had apparently lived a rather sheltered life ... I had always planned on coaching - from my experiences in college within a year or so I changed my major based on what I saw ... several years later I changed back and realized this was what I was supposed to be doing with my life all along.

 

I don't think it's any better ... look at the number of East Texas kids that go off somewhere to play and then check the college rosters in a couple of years .... just like right now, look at how many sign each year and enter as freshman - check the rosters - see how many ET kids are listed as Jr & Sr ... they definitely need to realize it's a big decision ... the older I get the more I realize IT'S ALL ABOUT THE RIGHT FIT.

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Freshman year of college. I was so certain i was going to the NFL in HS that class was irrelevant. Curly Hallman (Texas A&M "yuk") recruited me. My grades were sub standard so on his advice I enrolled at Blinn JC "to get my grades up". Eye opening to see the athletes at a JUCO. Was the starting right side DE. 6'2 255 4.6 forty BP 425 (it was the 80's and everybody was doing it and It was a dog eat dog climate) hurt my neck 6th game of the year Dr said no more fooseball. Went back home, Father passed away, didn't handle it well. Oklahoma (double yuk) called that spring. I thought it over and realized I liked the "idea" of playing college football more than actually playing. All the size, strength, and speed in the world won't keep you from getting injured and "the next level" isn't always as glamorous as it looks on TV and the Big screen. I've told my sons "enjoy the now, focus on your grades, there are no short cuts, choose a career that will make you happy". Word of advice for you young guys with kids that are talented. Everybody has to hang it up at some point. Be sure they know you're their dad and not their coach, agent, or trainer. At some point they won't need the last three but they will always need a dad.

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so many kids look at the name on the jersey and not the school.

 

Yep ... especially the kids with parents who never attended college.

For them, it's like a foreign land ... they just know they want their kids to have an opportunity they never had.

But it's kinda like if you're drowning ... and somebody throws you a life preserver ....

do you latch on quick; or do you take the time to examine whose holding the rope before you grab on?

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Yep ... especially the kids with parents who never attended college.

For them, it's like a foreign land ... they just know they want their kids to have an opportunity they never had.

But it's kinda like if you're drowning ... and somebody throws you a life preserver ....

do you latch on quick; or do you take the time to examine whose holding the rope before you grab on?

preach brother!!
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I joined the Navy two weeks after High School graduation and six months later found myself in Yokosuka, Japan, assigned to Fighter Squadron 161 on board USS Midway (CV-41). Tried out for the base team Yokosuka Seahawks. Found out REAL quick I wasn't "all that"!! Made team, but nebver got into any games. Career was short-lived. Too hard to get off ship to play.

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After I realized that I was the only 5'8 145 pound center/ nose guard. I did get invited to visit Austin College's football prospect day. I declined because I just had my second ACL surgery. Some days I wonder what would of happened if I actually attempted to play at the next level. Then reality hits, and I am glad I can still walk.

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These are some very interesting reads. Smoaky posters cover a broad spectrum of life experience. One thing in common, we all love the purity of high school football. Sure it is somewhat dangerous to the kids playing, but even for those who carry scars for a lifetime, most would say they would have played again. Would like to read more on this. Everybody has a story!

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I played 3 years college basketball and 2 years college baseball, or should I say participated. I also quickly realized that the talent level was much different than high school and that I was just a piece of meat thrown into the grinder. As a parent with two sons, it has been difficult watching them go through the recruiting process and finding the "right" fit as DOB talked about. My oldest signed with CSU-Pueblo in 2012, and battled injuries and being 15 hours from home for a long time before hanging it up to attend Texas A&M. My youngest is currently taking official visits to decide where he will play next season. I have always told them to find the right fit, but sometimes the schools you want do not want you. The bottom line is, I would rather they try and maybe fail, than go through life asking themselves "What if"? It takes special talent and a special mindset to endure the rigors of collegiate athletics.

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I realized my shot at the "Bigs" might not be a-go my senior year when i was helping out as basketball trainer and coach Fullerton walks over and says "Doomy we have too many men hurt and we won't be able to continue the contest if we don't get another player or two suited up. Go up in the stands and get the twin brothers from the 8th grade team."

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I realized my shot at the "Bigs" might not be a-go my senior year when i was helping out as basketball trainer and coach Fullerton walks over and says "Doomy we have too many men hurt and we won't be able to continue the contest if we don't get another player or two suited up. Go up in the stands and get the twin brothers from the 8th grade team."

I dont mean to laugh at your athletic ability but that made me lol

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I knew my 4th grade dream of playing pro football was dashed when I lay in a Medical Center hospital bed after 3rd game senior year and overheard the neurologist telling my mother that I was just too small to even be playing high school football. He would not think of releasing me to play again.

Doc said I could do non contact sports. If he could have seen my pole vault setup he would have feinted. I stayed more bruised there than football. (Stacked up tires under foam nets) Oh well, it was an improvement from the sawdust landing we started with in junior high. :rolleyes:

YEP..Ringside....and I bet you did the "Russian Twist" to get over the bar....NOT the "Pillsberry" Flop....ok ok ok Fosberry Flop....had that same setup in High School....For the longest....our pole vault record was 7 feet.....NOBODY wanted to land in the sand and sawdust FEET FIRST....LANDED IN A REAL SAND PILE WITH 2X20's AS SIDE BOARDS!!!!!....with a triangle ALUMINUM bar as the crossbar!!!!!!!!!....am dating myself BADLY!!!!!!

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I realized one thing...IF you work hard you might get a shot.....I had the chance to go play at Arkansas in the late 70's...got recruited by Frank Broyles...went BUT when I got there realized that Broyles had moved up to just AD....SOOO I got to "play" for LOU HOLTZ...we didn't "gel" that "red shirt year" so I transfered to a little NAIA school in Arkansas....realized that even THERE the talent level was WAY beyond High School...I worked hard played 4 years there...and got a chance to "try-out" for the Kansas City Chiefs....Marv Levy...got hurt during 'rookie" workouts....NOW PAYING FOR ALL THAT NOW...bad back...bad knees...bad neck...bad fingers.....but wouldn't trade for anything....well maybe for a new back...2 new knees, a new neck and 8 new fingers.....when I point can't tell where I am pointing....straight ahead or to the left!!

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I joined the Navy two weeks after High School graduation and six months later found myself in Yokosuka, Japan, assigned to Fighter Squadron 161 on board USS Midway (CV-41). Tried out for the base team Yokosuka Seahawks. Found out REAL quick I wasn't "all that"!! Made team, but nebver got into any games. Career was short-lived. Too hard to get off ship to play.

I remember when Tatum like to have broke your back that night over the middle. With the way you walk today, it probably was good you didn't get to play much after HS...:)

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For my size, 5' 8" 162lbs., back in my jr high/high school days I was a pretty good in football baseball and track. Most of us played both ways in football. I was the starting QB the first two games my senior year and then I voluntarily switched to tailback for the last eight games. We didn't make the playoffs for the first time in several years, but I rushed for over 1,000 yards in those eight games and averaged around 8 yards per carry, I got a concussion against Timpson before halftime and left with 95yds. I lead the district in rushing that year. I wasn't the fastest guy at 4.6 in the 40 and around 10.6 in the 100yd ... I was quicker than fast I guess. I got "letters of interest" from a few small schools as a defensive back but I didn't want to go anywhere. I knew I was probably too small and besides I got married about a year after graduation. At the time, I couldn't believe SFA didn't offer me a scholarship, heck I lived right down the road and surely they knew how good I was .. HA HA! Sometimes I regret not at least trying it but realize now I made the right choice. I pole vaulted in track and topped out at 12' ... I too started with bamboo when I was about 10 years old and I cleared 10' with a bamboo pole a few times. My best sport was baseball. I made the all-star team every year from little league thru pony league. Garrison didn't have high school baseball. When I joined the Air Force, I played semi-pro baseball for 3 years in Arizona for a team made of of active duty AF and we played several junior college teams and other large company teams. We played about 75 games a year and my batting average was between .350 and .385 each year and I was one of the better hitters for average in our league, hit a few dingers too, I played 2nd base mostly ... so yes, I think I could have been decent at the college level in baseball.

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For my size, 5' 8" 162lbs., back in my jr high/high school days I was a pretty good in football baseball and track. Most of us played both ways in football. I was the starting QB the first two games my senior year and then I voluntarily switched to tailback for the last eight games. We didn't make the playoffs for the first time in several years, but I rushed for over 1,000 yards in those eight games and averaged around 8 yards per carry, I got a concussion against Timpson before halftime and left with 95yds. I lead the district in rushing that year. I wasn't the fastest guy at 4.6 in the 40 and around 10.6 in the 100yd ... I was quicker than fast I guess. I got "letters of interest" from a few small schools as a defensive back but I didn't want to go anywhere. I knew I was probably too small and besides I got married about a year after graduation. At the time, I couldn't believe SFA didn't offer me a scholarship, heck I lived right down the road and surely they knew how good I was .. HA HA! Sometimes I regret not at least trying it but realize now I made the right choice. I pole vaulted in track and topped out at 12' ... I too started with bamboo when I was about 10 years old and I cleared 10' with a bamboo pole a few times. My best sport was baseball. I made the all-star team every year from little league thru pony league. Garrison didn't have high school baseball. When I joined the Air Force, I played semi-pro baseball for 3 years in Arizona for a team made of of active duty AF and we played several junior college teams and other large company teams. We played about 75 games a year and my batting average was between .350 and .385 each year and I was one of the better hitters for average in our league, hit a few dingers too, I played 2nd base mostly ... so yes, I think I could have been decent at the college level in baseball.

You were the best second baseman I ever coached, of course that was Church League Softball, you still had a few years left in you but your 4.6 forty had long faded....:)

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You were the best second baseman I ever coached, of course that was Church League Softball, you still had a few years left in you but your 4.6 forty had long faded.... :)

 

tru storie .... I'm still pretty quick, I just run in one place too long, that and my 45 extra lbs :P

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