Full Time Job

          Football is a full time job. Actually, it is more demanding than any full time job I have ever had, and I don’t get paid. At a "normal" job you go to work, clock in and clock out. But football...comes home with you. You’re always thinking about it, dreaming about it, eating for it, and always trying to catch a few more minutes of sleep because of it. And I love every second of it.
           Off season is not bad when it comes to the mental part of football. All I have to do is wake up at 6:04, either go and run, or do some Yoga (take your damned plank pose and shove it up your downward facing dog). Then I go to class, do some homework (maybe a dozen times a semester), lift some weights, then call it a day. But waking up for football is not like waking up for work. When I am in “God’s Country” working it is not a big deal to wake up at four or five, and not think twice about it. On the other hand, waking up to go run my guts out with a giant rubber band around my waist is damn hard to do. And it is even harder to wake up to do extreme yoga. Chuck Norris cried on Sean Claud Van Lamb’s shoulder after doing yoga with Rachel. After running or yoga I go to class and stare at the teacher with probably the dumbest look on my face because I am so tired. I am usually not listening to a word they say but staring at them, taking notes in my illegible cave man writing. After class it’s back to the weight room. The weight room is always fun for me. The guys make it a good time, we work ourselves to death while having a few good laughs. Whether it is Deezy and Whitz quoting a movie, or Eddie… well just being Eddie, I always look forward to it. Unless it is incline day, I hate weights on incline day. I always get embarrassed when I get choked out by ninety five pounds. I wasn’t even strong enough to wiggle out from the bar before I passed out. Thirteen year old girls can incline more than me. But the worst part about off season for me is gaining weight. I am not meant to be a big guy. My brothers are 5"11' inches and 170 pounds. I graduated high school at 6"2' and 185 pounds of solid steel sex appeal. Now I am expected to be 245 pounds. The bad thing about me is I never really gain muscle mass. So I eat a lot and I try to gain weight. But instead of filling out and getting buff like a normal human being, I keep the same frame and my beer gut just grows. When I say beer gut I mean beer gut, I don’t have love handles, just a pregnant woman looking gut. A beach bod is totally out of the question for this guy. Eating all of the time and eating that much food is a pain in the ass! Not literally….But it is a lot of work to cook that much food. A day for me usually goes something like this. Breakfast- 3 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 hash browns, 2 pieces of toast, a glass of milk and glass of juice. I get to school get me a cran-grape juice with a banana or kiwi. Lunch- since "FebruANY" has been going on I have been getting the chicken bacon ranch foot-long, double the meat, light lettuce, tomatoes, lots of onions, mayo, ranch, southwest sauce and tons of salt an pepper. Usually it’s just left overs or a couple packages of Ramon-Noodles (not as exciting…I know). Dinner- Is three pieces of chicken with a side of three baby red spuds and a whole can of vegetables. That is pretty damn healthy! If I could choose I would have coffee and a Pop-Tart for breakfast, a P.B.J for lunch, and a little hamburger helper for dinner. Throw in a couple Keystones and that is high class white trash.
Spring ball is the worst for time management. It is like fall camp with class in the middle of it. We watch pretty much the same film every day during spring. Why? Because practice is the same every day, we run the same exact practice every damn day. We have no one to game plan for. Practice goes exactly like this: stretch, individual, challenge, one on ones/seven on seven, inside run, blitz, special teams with Ronnie, pass situation, run situation, specials teams with Ronnie, third down ladder, two minute, get a team break, then run gassers. It is like your life is on repeat. The only difference is who is going to get mad and fight that day (which is always a good time to watch or get in the middle of). We still have morning runs and workouts, a long with practice during the spring. Plus we have scrimmages on Saturday’s that proceed whether there is 8 inches of snow on the ground or not. Practice/Scrimmages always go home with me. All night I will be thinking of every little thing I could have done better or wish I would have done different. And when I was playing for Ena it felt like he was stomping on my brain and ripping my worth as a man from me every day. I was told that countless nights while I was asleep I would be screaming the “F” bomb over and over at the top my lungs. At the same time I was screaming this I was tearing all the sheets and pillows off of my bed. I would wake up with no recollection of anything just confused, sweating, and out of breathe with only one thought in my head “the hell with you Ena!”
          But that is just the strains that everyone goes through on a day to day basis. Some guys might hate every aspect of football the lifting, running, practice, film, school, and yoga. But we all do it day in and day out. We live college football. College football is not easy for anyone. Everyone has their own personal battles. It could be injury, family problems, playing time, a girl, too many girls, financial problems, kids, their wife, the list is endless. Nothing about football is easy. We eat, sleep, and breathe, football for 365 days a year, for half a dozen Saturdays. Each Saturday is only four hours of payoff for all that hard work. That is only 48 hours of game time, for over a thousand hours of preparation.