Eyes of an Athlete by Isaiah

Eyes of an Athlete by Isaiah - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

Leather, Running, Grass, and screaming. These four things, seemingly unrelated, somehow forms together to make the number one thing that has ever changed my life; a game that has risen from just something you do in your backyard to something that has become a multi-million dollar industry. Football.

I started playing football at the age of four. My dad was the coach of the Northwest Raider's Biddy football team, and he decided that even though I was a year younger then anybody else out on that field, it was where I needed to be. He could never have made a better call. Since the first moment I touched that leather ball, I have fell in love with the sport. There's just something about it that can't be found in any other thing in the world. There's just too much to fall in love with, a little something for everybody to enjoy:

The joy of feeling pain after a workout because you know that it means you gave it your all on the field.

Watching a team bond together after months of battling together and pushing each other forward to the next levels.

Listening to the coaches speech in the locker room before the game starts, his words woven together like a work of a poet, to get the players riled up and ready for the war.

That moment, right before opening kick off, when the crowed is hushed and there's a feeling of anticipation of every fan's, player's, and every other person in the stadium's gut because they know that the game can go any direction from here.

The sound of the band marching on the field or playing the schools songs from the bleacher that seem to get everyone even more spirited for their team that sounds out throughout the game.

Hearing the eventual shout for a person to do his job or for a ref to invest into a pair of glasses spiraling into the air.

You just can't copy that, get that feeling of a good game anywhere else. I just can't imagine my life without it. The friends that I have, the lessons I have learned, the coaches and trainers who have taught me so much and been a role model throughout my life, I would have gotten none of that. Football isn't just a game, it's a life style. It changes the way you think, the way you act, and the way you grow. Every aspect of your life is viewed in a different light and your are given opportunities in the present and in the future that shape your life forever that you would not have gotten otherwise. Until you've stepped into the shoes of an athlete, and seen life through their eyes, you have not lived my friend. For once you've decided answer that call, your life will never be the same.