As Friday night is drawing closer, things are getting a lot more intense. You get a sense that everybody’s getting geared up. Goof off time is done. Everyone’s focused on the game. Everyone’s doing every drill perfect everytime.
I don’t see a whole lot of differenece in responsibility now that I am a starter. Last year on the look team, I took that responsibility seriously. If we didn’t do our part on the look team, the starters wouldn’t be as well prepared for Friday night as they could have been.
Now as a starter, I see some of the sophomores learning the value of the look team. I always looked at being on the look team as an important responsibility.We’ve been pushing this year’s look team to give their best effort so we can be prepared for Friday night. I still have a lot of responsibility this year, but the major difference is that I will be running on to the field on Friday night, not just on Monday night.
There is a lot of pressure on us as Tyrone football players. There is not just pressure of living up to the pressure to the tradition that has been set since coach Franco has been here, but we know that our community and our school has high expectations for our class. They have been hanging on us since we played junior high football.
The pressure of playing isn’t what I worry about. I worry about the ‘Big Head Syndrome’ that could come over our class. Things aren’t just going to fall into place. Everybody has to do their part. That comes from putting the time in the weight room, doing all our drills at 100 percent to live up to the expectations placed on our class.
I am excited, but nervous for my first varsity start on Friday night. I played on every special team last year, but you can bet that the butterflies are going to be there on Friday night. I am getting excited to be strapping on a helmet and wearing the Orange and Black on Friday night against our arch rival.
There is a leadership role that our underclassmen have to perform this year. Our seniors are leaders, but there are only six of them. We are right there with our seniors being leaders of the squad. There is a lot of responsibility on us, but we are up to the task and we’ll be ready to play on Friday night.
Compiled by John Harlow
