The NFL season is fast approaching and watching Dallas Cowboy's Football is how I like to spend my Sundays. Waiting for the season to start has me thinking about being a kid and loving football.
When I was a kid, (starting a sentence this way is the first sign that I am officially old) I used to play football in the street at my aunt's house. Actually on the concrete and our timeouts were when the cars would come driving down the road and half time was when Tia Lucy said lunch was ready. We dived for catches on the concrete and would slide out of bounds on the gravel. I still missing skin from my elbow and knees. We would put vicious hits on whatever receiver was dumb enough to leap in the air for a catch. There were no roofs and air conditioning units keeping you cool when the other unit is on the field. In fact, there was no other unit, you played offense and defense and everybody who wanted to play was on the field the whole game.
The "football" we are watching now is the wussifcation of the game. Punting and Fieldgoals? In real football you don't kick, you go for it on 4th down every time. These players are wearing pads and helmets with cushion to avoid concussions so they can prolong their career. When we played, we left it all on the line and didn't worry about being able to play next season. They also have this silly rule about pass interference . Pass interference? For us pass interference was when the quarterback throw the ball too high and it got stuck in the oak tree hanging over the street. I am not going to get started on "Late Hits" on the quarterback.
All I am saying is real football players play on concrete, and not on a football field with pads.
An old school football warrior,
Andres
