These past few weeks have been some of the most emotionally charged in my entire life. I love everything about football. I’ve committed my life and my future to this sport. I’ve given everything that I have to the Portland Python organization and I have been blessed by it giving everything it has back to me. Over these past 8 weeks, I haven’t just been playing football with coworkers, peers, or contemporaries; I’ve been playing with my family. With brothers and sisters that I love as the siblings that I never had. From the head coaches to the custodians in the building, I keep up with the lives of the Portland Pythons and feel responsible to perform for their sake. To make them proud of me and of this incredible organization.
And…sometimes I can’t hold in the way that this makes me feel. We lost to the undefeated Marshals in Week 5 in San Antonio. I took it very personally. I took it very poorly. The defense killed it out on the field in that game. We held the Marshals to 257 total yards (as opposed to our 377) and only two offensive touchdowns (when they average 26.9 points a game). Our amazing quarterback Franklin Armstrong made some huge mistakes that ended up costing us the game (I still love him, everyone slips up once in a while). By all accounts, there was very little the defense could’ve done to perform better in that game. But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I had let the team down.
The biggest thing I’ve learned so far in the DSFL is that I am playing for so much more than myself and my father; I have an entire team, no, an entire city counting on me. The people of Portland work hard in their day-to-day lives and they have problems more difficult than I could even begin to imagine. The least I can do for them is give them a team that they can be proud of and success that they can feel a part of. This realization only made the loss sting even more. I hadn’t just let down my teammates and the organization; the entire city of Portland had to go through their lives for that week knowing that I had disappointed them.
Maybe I was too hard on myself. I’m still young and new to this; it’ll take some time before I really get adjusted and learn how to handle these things (although I don’t plan on getting used to losing). I’ll be honest though; that week was pretty important for me. I was supercharged with emotion in practice. I stayed back after practice with the rest of the Portland secondary to go over the different looks and schemes that we would be seeing from the Seawolves (which was the other team that we have lost to this year). I turned that disappointment into a drive to train like I had never trained before.
My teammates noticed my struggle though and they warned me not to wear myself out and risk injury over this. While they loved my passion to improve, they cautioned me not to burn out midseason. I realized that an 18 hour a day training regimen wasn’t exactly sustainable and heeded their advice.
We then hosted the Seawolves and dominated their offense throughout the game. While it was a home game, I felt some vindication from our earlier loss to them. We are as good as we think we are and the league should take more notice to that. I celebrated with the team following the game and felt reassurance that this unit is something special and that great things are in our future.
But I still couldn’t shake the feeling of doubt from before. We had certainly been doing well, but there was still the undefeated phenom in the league in the Marshals. How could we hope to win the Ultimini when there was a team out there that we couldn’t quite figure out how to beat?
After a deceptively close game with the Solar Bears, I knew it was time for the squad to prove what we were made of. A home game against the only undefeated team in the DSFL. It was now or never for us to make our mark. For ourselves, for the team, and for the wonderful people of Portland. And holy shit, did we. The offense and defense played against the toughest competition in the league and both sides were able to overcome. Our notoriously quiet defense made some huge turnovers and Armstrong reminded the Marshals of why he’s universally praised.
I don’t know if they caught it on camera, but after we won the game, I ran around the field bawling my eyes out. This is it; we were tapping into the devastating potential that our team has. Over the course of these few weeks, we have figured out how this team works and we have meshed better than ever on the field. Nothing would be able to stop the Pythons now. After the game, we celebrated as a family together in the locker room and then I went back to my apartment and called my mom. Before even saying hello, I was crying again.
I don’t know how I’m supposed to be feeling. I’m just a rookie; I’ve never done anything like this before. But holy shit, is this feeling visceral. Empowering. Overwhelming, even. The Portland Pythons are the #2 team in the league by record. But we have split 1-1 with first place and by points and yards allowed, we have the #1 defense in the league. Things could not be going better for us and I could not be happier to be a part of this organization with these people by my side. I know I can trust every single member on the defense to watch my back and to make big plays with me. I know I can trust the offense to make their way downfield once we get them the ball. I know special teams will constantly deliver when that is asked of them.
When my teammates see me struggling or overworking, they step in to help me. It’s not because they want to make sure a player on the team stays healthy; it’s because they’re worried about a member of their family. There is so much love in our locker room and it translates to a success greater than I had even hoped for.
Look, I’m an emotional guy; when I’m upset, I won’t be able to hide it and when I’m losing my mind over how well the team is playing, you better expect to see it. Mark my words; this will not be the last time I’m crying on the field over the Python’s success.
And…sometimes I can’t hold in the way that this makes me feel. We lost to the undefeated Marshals in Week 5 in San Antonio. I took it very personally. I took it very poorly. The defense killed it out on the field in that game. We held the Marshals to 257 total yards (as opposed to our 377) and only two offensive touchdowns (when they average 26.9 points a game). Our amazing quarterback Franklin Armstrong made some huge mistakes that ended up costing us the game (I still love him, everyone slips up once in a while). By all accounts, there was very little the defense could’ve done to perform better in that game. But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I had let the team down.
The biggest thing I’ve learned so far in the DSFL is that I am playing for so much more than myself and my father; I have an entire team, no, an entire city counting on me. The people of Portland work hard in their day-to-day lives and they have problems more difficult than I could even begin to imagine. The least I can do for them is give them a team that they can be proud of and success that they can feel a part of. This realization only made the loss sting even more. I hadn’t just let down my teammates and the organization; the entire city of Portland had to go through their lives for that week knowing that I had disappointed them.
Maybe I was too hard on myself. I’m still young and new to this; it’ll take some time before I really get adjusted and learn how to handle these things (although I don’t plan on getting used to losing). I’ll be honest though; that week was pretty important for me. I was supercharged with emotion in practice. I stayed back after practice with the rest of the Portland secondary to go over the different looks and schemes that we would be seeing from the Seawolves (which was the other team that we have lost to this year). I turned that disappointment into a drive to train like I had never trained before.
My teammates noticed my struggle though and they warned me not to wear myself out and risk injury over this. While they loved my passion to improve, they cautioned me not to burn out midseason. I realized that an 18 hour a day training regimen wasn’t exactly sustainable and heeded their advice.
We then hosted the Seawolves and dominated their offense throughout the game. While it was a home game, I felt some vindication from our earlier loss to them. We are as good as we think we are and the league should take more notice to that. I celebrated with the team following the game and felt reassurance that this unit is something special and that great things are in our future.
But I still couldn’t shake the feeling of doubt from before. We had certainly been doing well, but there was still the undefeated phenom in the league in the Marshals. How could we hope to win the Ultimini when there was a team out there that we couldn’t quite figure out how to beat?
After a deceptively close game with the Solar Bears, I knew it was time for the squad to prove what we were made of. A home game against the only undefeated team in the DSFL. It was now or never for us to make our mark. For ourselves, for the team, and for the wonderful people of Portland. And holy shit, did we. The offense and defense played against the toughest competition in the league and both sides were able to overcome. Our notoriously quiet defense made some huge turnovers and Armstrong reminded the Marshals of why he’s universally praised.
I don’t know if they caught it on camera, but after we won the game, I ran around the field bawling my eyes out. This is it; we were tapping into the devastating potential that our team has. Over the course of these few weeks, we have figured out how this team works and we have meshed better than ever on the field. Nothing would be able to stop the Pythons now. After the game, we celebrated as a family together in the locker room and then I went back to my apartment and called my mom. Before even saying hello, I was crying again.
I don’t know how I’m supposed to be feeling. I’m just a rookie; I’ve never done anything like this before. But holy shit, is this feeling visceral. Empowering. Overwhelming, even. The Portland Pythons are the #2 team in the league by record. But we have split 1-1 with first place and by points and yards allowed, we have the #1 defense in the league. Things could not be going better for us and I could not be happier to be a part of this organization with these people by my side. I know I can trust every single member on the defense to watch my back and to make big plays with me. I know I can trust the offense to make their way downfield once we get them the ball. I know special teams will constantly deliver when that is asked of them.
When my teammates see me struggling or overworking, they step in to help me. It’s not because they want to make sure a player on the team stays healthy; it’s because they’re worried about a member of their family. There is so much love in our locker room and it translates to a success greater than I had even hoped for.
Look, I’m an emotional guy; when I’m upset, I won’t be able to hide it and when I’m losing my mind over how well the team is playing, you better expect to see it. Mark my words; this will not be the last time I’m crying on the field over the Python’s success.
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