“You’re a football player, aren’t you?” says a 60-year-old man at any formal dinner, anytime, anywhere with my parents. I have heard this conversation starter with tons of men at tons of places, but now I have to give a different answer.
I’m used to smiling and saying, “Yes, sir, I am,” and he would smile like he’s done some Grade-A investigative work and nod his head. We would continue to talk about what position I play, how good our team is and where I want to play in college. I got pretty good at keeping them happy enough so that they would eventually leave me alone.
After having this conversation countless times with countless people, I recently had to say, “No, sir, not anymore” for the first time. That hurt. For most of life, I’ve considered myself to be a football player. Fun fact on the first day of class? I play football. Need to find a way to get out of something I don’t want to do? I have football practice. Why are you so tired? I had football practice last night. You want to do something Friday night? No, I have football. I could answer anything with something about football. Now I can’t.
I’ve been asked if I play football anywhere you could imagine, from my dental hygienist to a biologist at the Atlanta aquarium during their presentation. From waiters in Chili’s to college tour guides. I halfway expect everyone I meet to lead with a football question, and most of the time they do. Starting to say no to these people asking is going to be very hard.
I’m still in the process of figuring out who I am besides a football player. I don’t know where to start. I thought I had everything figured out going into senior year. I was going to start in my 36th straight game at the end of the season, I was a returning varsity captain, a two-time all-conference player, and offensive lineman of the year last year. But I see how little those accolades mean in the grand scheme of things, because now they don’t mean anything. Just memories. What I take from football to the rest of my life won’t be how good I was, or how many games I won. It will be the friendships I gained, the hardships I fought through, the grind it out attitude and so much more.
I will always be thankful for that.
– By Jonathan Robbins