It’s time!
When I am on the precipice of football season, in my head I hear Bruce Buffer, famous ring announcer for the UFC, scream iiiiit’ssss tiiiiiiimmme!!!
That’s how excited I get that football is back. Friday Night Lights is as much ingrained in my memories as Thanksgiving or two-a-days when I played football. It’s meshed into my very core. Football season: it’s something only somebody who went through the crucible of two-a-day workouts under the unrelenting Texas sun during an August heat wave can truly appreciate.
Sure, you can be a fan and enjoy football with the masses on Sundays or under the Friday Night Lights of Texas football but there is a special bond, passion and appreciation for high school football that can only be truly obtained by the brotherhood of those who played Texas football.
Texas football players go through what can only be described as a boot camp experience you might find in the armed forces. It’s the first day of football camp, it’s August, the Texas sun is already beating down with ferocious intent as we walk onto the practice field at 8 a.m. after already hitting the weight room for 2 hours. The head coach steps in front of his team and begins to bark like a Marine drill sergeant as he begins the process of breaking us down so he can begin rebuilding and reforming the team into the team of his image or imagination.
This is the beginning that will turn a group of friends, strangers and sometimes misfits from singular players into a cohesive group with one goal in mind: strive for the perfect game under the Friday Night Lights in front of friends, family and a community.
Sometime between that first day of workouts and the last buzz of the last game of the season, this team of players will become a brotherhood that will last a lifetime. They will now be a part of the brotherhood of football players who gave their all - sacrificed sweat, tears, bitter disappointments and the pure ecstasies of victory.
All that will be ingrained in the memories of these players – not just the highs and lows but the memories of when they gained the coaches’ approval, their teammates’ respect and the roar of the stands filled to capacity with cheering friends, family and the community who love them. There will be long bus rides home, some filled with silence from a loss and some with laughter, shouting and singing from a victory hard won.
Some may never know this unspoken brotherhood but all can support them through the highs and lows, knowing that they gave their all under the Friday Night Lights.
This is Will B saying, I won’t be on the field with you physically but will always be right next to you in spirit and do my best to capture your moment in the sun!