Fall Down And Get Back Up!!

Let me first start off with a little quote from the great Confucius which he states, "Our greatest joy is not in never falling , but in rising every time we fall." Like i said in my last post it doesn't matter how many times you fall, what matters is how many times you get up. I'm going to share some of my past experience of this. Sophomore year in college it was the spring before my second season in football, I had a great freshman season came in and started as a true freshman. Even though I had been moved from linebacker to defensive end I just felt I was blessed to be playing as a true freshman let alone be starting! So its now spring and were currently in spring ball and mind you I attend the University Of Texas A&M Kingsville so if you know anything about South Texas it can get pretty hot down here! Spring ball consist of just doing your normal football routines to stay in shape and it give the coaches a chance to see where everybody is at before the upcoming season.

Football yet alone has been a major part of my life and has made me the man I am today. Most people think its just a big physical contact sport that everybody is out to hurt everyone. Which in some cases it may vary but what I've learned playing this great sport is working together as one and reaching out to our one common goal which is a championship. You grow up as a man along the side of other great man, I believe everyone can agree that working with a team on something is far greater than working by yourself on it. I guess that's why I always loved group assignments in my classes. Being a leader for our team was something I was very proud of and I knew I would have to take that extra step if i wanted to get us all going in that same direction. Still today I tell the guys the summer is key to success because the fall will ask what you did in the summer and that a very true statement!

Back to spring ball, we had been practicing all week long and our spring game was just around the corner. Little did I know what was going to happen to me that day and i remember it just like it was yesterday! So I'm at my end position and the ball has been snapped i work a move off of the tackle and i could see where the play was going. The quarterback handed the ball off to the receiver in motion which is a play referred to as the "jet sweep" mind you I'm already aware of what is taking place. So Ive kept my containment and make him cut back inside which he had no other option and when he cut I cut as well but when i planted to turn in the opposite direction my leg stayed in the ground and all I felt was POP! Man I went down so fast and was in much agony and pain, I believe some of my teammates really heard a grown man scream that day! I kind of felt like Boobie Miles in the movie Friday Night Lights, after they had helped me off the field one of the trainers had checked me out and honestly it felt alright but it was something about that pop that had me worried. So they checked it out and everything seemed to be fine which I was told it was just a sprain of some sort. They said I had plenty of time to recover seeing it was still spring ball and the season didn't begin until September. To make a long story short I came back that fall had a brace on my leg and played through the pain and agony. I mean my knee would pop on and on throughout the season and it wasn't until week 8 when they finally decided i should see a specialist and find out what was really wrong! Sure enough I had tore my acl, mcl, and any other cl you could think of, I'm not a doctor but I knew what I was told wasn't good!

So now I sit back and realize I just basically played a whole season with a torn up knee! Some people can sit there and blame the doctors or the trainers or even the coaches but being the person I am I know God works in mysterious ways and everything happens for a reason. I tend to stay positive in situations like these and keep my faith. Some people would've gave up and quit on themselves especially with a knee injury and most people know that's something serious especially trying to go back and play again. So I pretty much fell down real hard but if it wasn't for my PERSEVERANCE and Willingness to get back up I would've never saw what God had in store for me! So after all of that chaos I finished up my senior season a very humble and proud captain of my team, the emotional leader, made all-conference, had player of the week twice, and surround myself around a bunch of great guys that I'll forever consider my lifetime friends. Don't let me forget to mention that I wear a big fat conference championship ring that we won that same year! If i had a chance to do it all over again most certainly I would in a heart beat! Just in that fashion so when YOU or anybody else falls down ALWAYS get up because the light is just around the corner!....... Jeff Edwards