Football is a major sport, well-known, and in addition, it is also popular. It has many players, but everyone always focuses on the pros, so we’re going to take a look at the mind of a Freshman football player to a Senior football player. How it changes, how it grows, similarities, differences, perspectives, and much more.
The Freshman
The freshman football player is Asher Well, also known as “Ted”. “ He was asked about the dangers. Asher stated, “Honestly, that feeling and pride of making a play is just unexplainable…” He could not put it into words. His passion overrides the potential danger that comes with football.
When Asher was asked about how he feels during some crucial moments, his response was, “Before, I am usually pretty anxious”. When further questioned, Asher said, “but once I have on my pads, I get a feel for it, and I feel better. I feel more calm. You know what I mean? I feel determined.” After a game, “win or lose, I’m usually tired and hungry…but if we win… that bus ride home is awesome…But the bus ride home, if we lose, has been some of the most depressing moments in my life.” Their passion is both a weapon and a curse. They absolutely love football, but since they love it so much, a loss comes with as much of a negative effect as a win has with a positive effect.
When asked about a potential career, He answered, “I’m definitely gonna have strong values of hard work and determination.” He seems to have gained values and other things along the way. Since Asher is a Freshman Player, his career is far from over.
“I think it will get harder and more competitive, because at the Freshman level, no one is really scouting you. They don’t care yet, because you’re like a nobody…you’re building yourself back up from the bottom.” This is how Asher believes the competition will change going into the future.
Winning and losing games affect the player’s mind. When Asher was asked about it, he said, “If we lose, I’m down in the dumps. I hate myself after I lose… the pain of my knees, and my ankles, and the turf burn becomes so much greater if I lose, ‘cause it was for nothing.” Losing has a heavy effect on both mental and physical aspects of a player.
The Senior
The Senior football player is Cody Foster. Despite the dangers, Cody still plays, and this is why. “…just… being out with my friends… mostly… It’s so rewarding to do something good in football…people say there’s a lot of dangers, but honestly… I’ve only ever seen…one actual event, where somebody had to go off in an ambulance like during a game.” The “Dangers” that are associated with football seem to only occur very rarely.
Cody was questioned about certain moments of a game, “So before … you get really nervous…essentially, you’re just ready to play…during a game, your nerves get calm, you … get in the zone, just playing the game… Everything comes really naturally because of how much we practice… and after a game, most of the time we win, so it feels great. We go get food, we do all this fun stuff. Now, when we lose, it’s not the same, but that doesn’t happen very often. But that’s just a sad experience for…most of us, ‘cause we don’t lose a lot.” For both grade levels, they do not take losing well. Like anyone else, they’re disappointed with the outcome.
Football can have a potential for a career, this is what Cody thinks is important for pursuing this career, “definitely the ability to work with a team. Also, I think it will help with memorization of things, and just…getting through struggles and challenges because football is a really hard sport.” Football seems to have a common occurrence between freshmen and seniors when it comes to life skills and values.
Cody was asked how it changed over the years, “…I’ve gotten a lot stronger, faster, and a lot smarter, overall, when it comes to like knowing how to do things and what certain things are.” Mental and physical changes occurred based on what Cody provided. Football seems to change a lot of things in a short time.
There are always similarities and differences, but diving into it from the source reveals the most. This was “In the Mind of the Player”.