Saints How many of you played or coached football (High School, College or Pro)? (1 Viewer)

lmao - Yes, in our days, the high school coaches treated concussions like a stinger and the minute you could count 3-fingers, you were back in. At least that was the way it was in basketball and baseball.

I was pitching in a game and got beamed by a laser shot like drive. The coaches came out and talked to me. I knew my name so he gave me the ball back to continue pitching. I still don't remember the last few innings. I know we won that game and we didn't win many so I guess the story is that I pitched better when I was freakin clueless -lol
Funny because I believe it’s true. Concussion protocol used to be “how many fingers am I holding up” and “what day is it?” I wouldn’t even know where to begin on the number of concussions I had while playing. I know for a good 10 or 12 years after I stopped playing, I had constant headaches, sudden loss of balance, extreme mood swings, and would often forget what I was talking about in mid-sentence. It was so bad that I knew it wasn’t normal but you feel trapped and it’s kind of perceived as weak to blame it on concussions.
 
I played football in middle school and first two years of high school. I loved football and had a deep passion for the game but I was not a gifted athlete and a foot condition caused chronic injuries that made every attempt to play in any consistent way a fruitless endeavor.

I walked away from football in the summer before 11th grade (28 years ago) and Im still dealing with accumulated injuries I got during my playing days.
 
Freshman year, I played at Mt. Carmel HS in Chicago with Donavon McNabb and Simeon Rice... both were complete studs on another level entirely.
Played through HS but injured my knee... a bad knee injury derailed my career as I was already lacking speed and it only made things worse.
Coached my entire adult life... football, baseball, and now fast pitch softball.
I love the game of football, but I enjoy coaching the girls and fast pitch softball the most of any sport.
I coach fast pitch also. Hoping my daughter gets to play with Beth at LSU in 2 years
 
I coached youth football and was terrible at it if you ask me. The kids on the team have a different opinion of me. Three of them are now high school head coaches. One called me out at my sons senior year football banquet. In a room full of people he told everyone in the room that if not for me he wouldn’t be in football and would’ve probably been in jail. The crazy thing was he was one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen but no one would pick him because of his attitude. What they didn’t know was his dad had died 3 weeks before tryouts. He earned the nickname undertaker in high school for a good reason and went on to play LB at Cincinnati. Another kid told me basically the same thing in a private conversation. He played college ball at Millsaps. My youngest son is now an assistant coach with the third guy and that guy played football at McNeese.
 
I was a much better baseball coach and coached 4 state champion teams in little league. One of the guys I coached made it to the majors and a second is the head coach at Southeastern Matt Riser. Matt and another guy Justin Piggot were good enough to make it to Omaha and play in the college World Series. Matt for Tulane and Justin for Mississippi state. Ryan Hughes is the guy who made it to the majors and had one of the best swings you could ever want as a baseball player.
 
I played for 7 years when I had a younger body but even a younger body takes a pounding after 7 years. I was a bit undersized but was an overachiever. I played with and against several guys who wound up in the NFL.

But now that I have an older body I think more and more that it was fun but really wasn't worth it. I feel things now that I know are directly related to playing football.

I did coach for about 5 years and that was probably the most fun I had in relation to football.
 
Yeah, makes sense. I would have probably seen him in 2004 playing for Bristol Aztecs. Chances are I played one or two games against Norwich around the same time, I remember the home team players putting up the posts on game day while we warmed up!

I played Bristol (Aztecs), also coached one local university team (UWE), founded and ran the other (University of Bristol), and later coached the second Bristol adult team (Apache).
Yeah I would have played against you in 2004 then, our team was awful that year & we never had enough players so didn't have much of a chance to win any games.

I remember our game at Bristol though - the pitch was rock hard & I gave up the final TD as we lost 28-0. Small world huh?
 
I moved from The Netherlands to the US when I was 8, to Slidell. I played my first season of football when I was 9, though as a fat kid, I was put in the 11-12 year old team - based on weight you see. Hated it, lost every game, didn't understand any of it. I was happy to stick to soccer after that.

Being big, I got drawn into it, not completely against my will, in Junior High. Started two years there but didn't really like it.

Thought I'd escaped it when I went to High School, but, being big and athletic, I got the call at some point from the football coach during PE, 'Hey Big un', why aren't you playing football?' Was on JV half a season freshman year. Didn't manage to get forgotten about and was dragged into two a days coming into Sophomore year. Managed to quit for half a day until the 'boys' came to my house to bring me back. Ended up starting the next 3 years. All-district, all-parish, all state. At some point, probably half way through my sophomore year began to enjoy it. Was on the NO All-metro team with Marshall Faulk and Kordell Stewart.

Much recruiting etc. Chose to go to Duke. Had planned to commit to Virginia after George Welsh visited me in my home before their Sugar Bowl game that year and after visiting the campus in Charlottesville. But Duke visit blew me away, what an amazing campus and school. Red-shirted, then started 4 years at Center. Managed 2nd team All-ACC junior year, and honourable mention another year, I think. Got some post-grad scholar athlete scholarships which paid for the rest of my Master's Degree.

Had back trouble and was really into my academics and figured I was done with football so skipped pro-day and all that stuff. Had calls from the Cowboys and the Seahawks to sign up as a UDFA, but these calls went to my dad who told them I didn't want to play football anymore. :) I did try to call them back after I found out a few weeks later but they were already set at that point so I moved on.

Decided to travel a bit and figured may as well get my way paid so joined NFL Europe Amsterdam Admirals. I was and am a Dutch National so was pretty easy. Had a bit of a try out and that was that. Played in 1997 and 1999. Missed Kurt Warner who played in 1998 :) Did manage to play against LaRoi Glover in 1997 (Barcelona Dragons) as we had a joint practice - 1 v 1 pass rush at Center with him at nose, good lord that man was a beast! It's also where I had Darryl Terrell, who no one here seems to feel good about, as a teammate and OL brother - lovely chap altogether. Didn't really play much for a number of reasons - I treated it a bit like a paid holiday, NFL sponsored players gotta get film and my OL coach was not a big fan of Duke (and anyone with an IQ above his, i.e. c. 75) - if I'm honest with myself, that sequence is probably reversed, didn't see much point after the last two became apparent.

Eventually settled in Belfast and discovered they had football here. Played a little bit for fun and coached. Help set up a team in 2006 (First Chairman) called the Belfast Trojans and have been involved ever since. I mainly focus on OL and bringing fat folk who have never played to a decent standard of OL play. Passing on whatever knowledge I've managed to glean over the years is enjoyable.

That's me.
 
Last edited:
I played O-line in HS. Never started at the Varsity level though. Technique wise I was good at the position but I never really got to the strength level I should've in HS, we didn't have the best strength and conditioning program but it was on me to be honest, was too caught up in everything else at the time that football wasn't my priority. Saw some reps on defensive line as well which I preferred honestly.
 
Played from age 8 through 18. Got 3 letters for 5A varsity as a Cornerback/Free Safety and backup QB.
Got some letters, and originally was looking at TX State as a landing spot, but ultimately, I wanted to pursue new things, like recording my band and computer science. I wasn't the best athlete on the field, but I understood the strategy and I was dedicated. My coaches were terrible
Haven't regretted the choice one bit. I still work in the field I chose all the way back then. My ankle and knee have paid the price for year-round sports throughout my youth, and as some have already said, the concussions are worrisome.
 
Last edited:
I am currently in my 16th year in Madden.

But seriously, I was very athletic and soccer derailed me before I could play football. I tore all four ligaments along with cartilage in my left knee in a game and there went my athletic career. It took over a year of rehab. Over six months before I could finally walk without a limp.

My mom worked at my high school and was secretary to the AD and the principal. So she changed the release form to have both parents sign off to play...dad would sign, mom wouldn't. Oh and she would get after the coaches to leave me alone because they wanted me to play everything.

I did play pickup games with buddies though, lol she couldn't stop me at friends houses and of course we played tackle.

Went to Mississippi State and had buddies on the team and they told me I should try to walk on, but I was like the positions I would play had all SEC guys. I would have been a scout team tackling dummy. I talked myself out of trying, which I regret.

Did play intramural flag and got banned my sophomore year though lol. We were playing Kappa Alpha and this one dude was on me kept on trash talkingand straight up tackling and taking cheap shots. His buddy was the ref of the game and wouldn't do anything. He finally took a shot at my bad knee and there was some pushing and shoving and I told him I'll take care of it. Next offensive drive he was on a slant and when he went to catch it I drove my shoulder into his chest and into the ground...cracked his sternum.....yeah so that's how intramural career ended. Lol.
 
Last edited:
Played 4 years of High School at WR, P, and DE .

Played WR and DB in semi-pro league in town. Both were longer ago than I care to remember.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom