The Gridiron

The Gridiron

For as long as I can remember football has been a part of my life in some way, shape, or form. When I was first born my grandfather said that I was solid and built to play football. I used to throw the football with my mother when I was a toddler and she always told me that when I tried to tackle her I hit really hard. My first organized football experience was when I was five. I had just moved to Manassas, VA from Washington, D.C. in 1994. It was around fall and that was right at the beginning of football season in the area. I remember telling my mother that I wanted to play, so she looked for a local organization for children. She came across the Greater Manassas Football League (GMFL) and that is where I began to play the game I love.

I was only five at the time and the commissioner of the league said that I couldn’t play because my birthday fell after the cutoff date by a day. My mother looked into my eyes and saw how badly I wanted this so she convinced him to let me play. I was a member of the Bandits and I was the youngest on the team. However, I wasn’t concerned with the age issue because I was just happy to play. I was never intimidated because at that age everyone was just playing and having fun. My number was 52 and I played running back. My team was horrible, and that’s just an understatement, but I made a name for myself as a hard runner. I played in the GMFL for about five or six years and then moved onto another league which was slightly bigger the Prince William County Football League (PWCFL).

In the PWCFL my position changed, I gained some weight and size so I moved to fullback and middle linebacker. My number changed also to 44, after John Riggens former running back for my favorite team the Washington Redskins. Right away I began to make an impact in the league and gained much notoriety from my peers and opponents. I can remember two plays vividly. The first was when I played fullback. It was third and long which is more times than not a passing situation, but this time the coach put his faith in me to make the first down. I remember getting the hand off and was running to the left. I got through the hole and saw a defender. I lowered my shoulder and ran over him, but I wasn’t to the first down yet. All of a sudden there were four people on me and I had my mind made up that I wasn’t going to let my team down, so I kept my legs driving carrying people and finally made it to the first down. Right there I knew that I could be a great player. The second play was a defensive play. The opposing team was up by three points and time was running out. The coach yelled from the sideline “We need a play,” so I took it upon myself to be the playmaker. The ball was snapped, it was a toss to my left. I saw the running back sprinting out and I took my pursuit angle. I met him head up and he started to go down and in the back of my mind I heard my coach’s voice and that made me do something I had never done. I stripped the ball out of his hand and ran for a touchdown. My team won. The next phase of my football career was about to begin now, middle school.

I didn’t play my sixth grade year, because I needed to give my body a rest, so I came out the next year. I was linebacker and my number changed again this time to 55. There’s not much that I remember from that year except that I broke a kid’s leg. From my linebacker position I saw Eric Giagose running the ball. We were friends and I remember telling him, “Don’t run that ball outside; I’m going to get you.” He ran outside so I pursued. At the point of attack it seemed like a pretty average hit, but Eric didn’t get up. In eighth grade I went to a different school, Marsteller Middle school. We only played one game because of the Sniper that was loose in our area. Even though it was our only game, it was one of my best. My position changed now once again this time to defensive tackle. In the game I had four tackles and four sacks. My only regret is the last play of the game when I had the running back wrapped up and he slipped away. They won the game. After that year it was time for the fondest times of my life, high school football.

As a freshman entering the world of high school football I couldn’t have imagined what was in store from me. I had never experienced a two-a-day camp. We had to wake up at 7 am to practice and then again at 1 pm. This was totally new to me. My position now was defensive end and my number changed. The number