Sanctity of Devotion
...the junior varsity team, and was known as the “little guy” in the weight room, working out late into the evening everyday. All this work would soon pay off when I was chosen for the varsity team. I was ecstatic, and could not believe that I was going to be playing with the “big guys”, the guys that I had been looking up to for years. My first game on the varsity team was more than I had ever expected. When you are playing down on the field, you hear nothing but your own heart beating wildly, and the sound of helmets hitting each other as you are tackled. The smell of fresh grass is everywhere and of course the sweat dripping off of the players on the field. Soon, the football field became like a home to me because I was there so much and the players became like brothers. We all shared a special bond with each other and no matter what happened I knew that they would be there for me. Midway through the season, the unthinkable happened. One of our star players, one of my “brothers”, and my best friend was killed in a car accident. The team felt like we could not go on without him, and no matter how hard we tried to fulfill his position, it seemed impossible. The coaches felt the pain and grief as well, but they knew that it was their responsibility to lift our spirits. They told us a quote that Vince Lombardi once said, and this will forever stay with me. “The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall.” The team went on, but I felt that the bond between us was never going to be the same. After the season ended, graduation followed and soon I would b...