An Embarrassment That Led to Success

              I was only a Junior in High School. A strong meaty young man but, yet still I had more developing to do in order to conquer the sport I truly loved. The love of my life was and still is, football. Unlike some of my classmates, I was still fifteen years old. You could never tell if you saw me. My birthday is on October, the 13th, so in the middle of the chilly season everyone would shockingly wish me a happy birthday with the same dumbfounded and disfigured facial expression. I was young but, I played like a big kid. Age was only a number to me. Everyone in my class were older than me but, I was always bigger in mass. I was one hell of a physical player, I mastered the arts of having no fear against any competitor  I never slowed down in contact, I was like a fright train. Although I was physical and fearless, I had one problem, and that was mastering the techniques and logistics of how to even play football. Some days I looked like a chicken with its head cutoff, running wild, and filling the wrong gaps on defense. My weakness was apparent to one man in particular, a man that I still despise but, yet I am grateful for his presence in my life.
              There was this new coach that had arrived in the middle of the season. Throughout the whole year he took a step back as an observatory, almost like a coach on an intern or something. Like a creeper with the the brim of his hat sitting right above his eyebrows that always stood behind the current coaching staff of that time. So no one really knew him. His name was Coach Bonn. He was a chubby guy, but he always seemed to be angry at the world. You know one of those fun sized guys that thought they were bigger and badder than everyone else. He was five foot six. Sadly, he was promoted to be the defensive coordinator the upcoming year. I had a bad feeling about him, plus I definitely made the wrong impression based on my performance. Making mistakes were vivid to this particular coach, and those mistakes alone changed my life in certain ways that I could never imagine.
            During the brutal winter on a hard working day in the weight room, I was drenched in my own sweat as my biceps were glistening in the light almost as if I was covered in baby oil. So in the conditions that I was in I decided to go pretend to get some water and flirt with the cheerleaders, where they always stood and chatted while taking a break. As I was sipping the ice cold water, guess who makes an appearance? Coach Bonn. He introduces himself and says, "You know this year your performance was a little soft". That word alone cause me to sweat in embarrassment around the cheerleaders that I was near, causing me to boil in anger as each and every vein in my body were pulsating. I was vexed.
             Every day after that, I never took a break. Everyday was a grind. The weight room became my second home. I would start working out in the sunny day, and leave when it would be dark.I had more energy than the energizer bunny.The playbook became my bible, and inside all you can see are written notes and audibles coach would add into the playbook every week. I began to work countless hours in the gym, sneaking back in the weight room even after it was closed. Every week the thump of me dropping the dumbbells became louder and louder as the weight continued to increase. After, a normal day of training my muscles would pulsate uncontrollably wanting to escape the confined area trapped by my skin. I was always in pain but being sore was only a sign of improvement  The only reason I put in all of this effort was because I hated who I once was. I wanted greatness. I figured that I would earn the most respect from my coaches and teammates when no one was around to see.
             Surely, I became bigger, faster, and stronger but, most importantly I became wiser. In one year I gained over fifteen pounds in muscle and knew every formation and audible inside and out. I started on varsity again my senior year. On each and every play, whether it was practice or not, not one person has ever gave more effort than I have in anything play by play. I sprinted every play, grunted every tackle, screamed every tackle for a loss of yardage. I was on a mission, and that mission was to convert ever non- believer. You can see the focus in my eye's. Coach Bonn's motivational words taught me a lot, it taught me that there was a way out of making repetitive mistakes, it was hard work.