October 1992. Playing against a rival HS and my own fellow OL-man fell on the backside of my knee as I was hit up top. Tore my MCL (thankfully not a complete tear).

I only played four games my Sr. year in HS, but was lucky enough to get a Football ride to my Alum. (Smallest D1 school in the country btw

)

One thing I'll never forget was how my HS Coaches tossed me aside when I wasn't of use to them anymore. The OL person of the year awarded to another player which only threw salt in the wound. There was only one Coach that I kept in contact with after I graduated. This coach contacted me while I was in college to have me send him my College photo to hang on the wall with a couple of players that received scholarships after I had graduated. He was and still is a good man; he still coaches to this day and led our HS to a state playoff birth after he became Head Coach several years later.

My last game in College was November 1996, playing a rival for bragging rights. I had previously started the last three seasons at left guard, but lost my starting position after dropping 45 lbs. at Fort Bragg that summer (I'm Army). I only played about half of the game. We lost but I wasn't upset. I walked the field for awhile with my parents and touched the grass and soaked up the scenery. It was the last time that I ever put on pads. I kept my game jerseys, last pair of game cleats and helmet and have them in my man cave.

Strange to think that the methodical and ritualistic stuff we did as young men are long gone; the way we laced our shoes, the order we put our pads in. I guess my gear in the Army replaced a lot of that for some time.

I had a good experience playing. I'm not an X-and-O's guy, I don't play fantasy or even know most of the player names nowadays. I just played and that's fine with me.

This post was edited on 9/19/14 at 7:34 pm