Who actually played the game?

[next2nothing]

I played peewee football for the Salem Little Quakers from 4th - 6th grade and I played G. In Jr. High I was a corner in 7th and I loved to hit so much I got moved to OLB in 8th grade. In High School I played three years and I played mostly offense as a blocking back in the Stack-I.

Had a contract with the Marine Corps all signed and then blew my knee out the next day of football practice which caused me to miss my whole senior year of football.

[Flugel]

WARNING: Old man telling testosterone story here.

Back in in the late 70s, I was as short as I am today at 5'9" and I didn't weigh what I wanted to weigh just yet. As I was contemplating the movement from youth football to high school football, I was asked by the Freshman Coach Gary Dawes if I felt I was big enough to play line for him when we were picking up our equipment. I replied with "I'll leave that up to you. The reason I'm here is I have the will to win which means I will win." Coach's face looked my old Light Brite set after that; but I got the feeling he was thinking this kid is every bit as full of shit as he needs to be.

Well, I OD'd on weight training thinking I just wanted to make the team and get a couple hot dates out of the football jacket. One of the very first drills was a board drill where 2 lineman line up in the middle of a thin board, easy to straddle, about 15'-20' long. The winner drives his guy off the other end of the board and all questions are answered. It's basically a leverage drill that rewards the guy who can A) win the first step, B) get up under the opponent which removes his base and C) dominate territory. I got up under a kid that everyone thought was Conan Jr including me and had ZERO trouble driving his ass to the next county. The kid started at tackle as an 8th grader and nobody wanted to pair up with him so your's truely got him and went carpet diem with it. That's when I truely learned David can consistently whip Goliath's tail in this sport. Outweigh does not mean outplay. Might be the biggest reason I 've always liked what I've seen from Eric Steinbach in Cleveland while many sportswriters just can't see it in the same light.

We had 2 junior high schools so alot of us started 2 ways at the freshman level. I was an Offensive Guard and I also did all the snaps for punts and kicks while I played DT half the year and gap guard for the other half. When we all got to the junior varisty on a team of 60, our coaches filtered us into what they felt was most appropriate. I got sentenced to "I like you better at offensive guard." As a Senior, your buddy Flugel started at Offensive Guard and was named 1st Team All County East for the Fairport Red Raiders in Western, NY back in 1981. I was fortunate that I only missed 2 games to injury but they were the Playoff Game and the Championship so it was pit in stomach-level short term sadness. Seeing that we got to the Championship without my ass - I wasn't exactly essential. We got rag dolled and tossed like salad in the Sectional Finals however. For a 5'9" 195 pound sweat - I'm very thankful at how much hard work and countless football camps paid off in the end.

I graduated in 1982 with football being the ONLY reason I was interested in college. I had A.D.D. before anyone knew there was any such acronym informing me why thoughts of hotties and football kept intercepting the story of Julius Caesar. Let's just say, 4 years of higher academics didn't seem like my compass. Unfortunately, I had a reconstructive surgery performed on my right knee back in June of 1982. The schools that showed the most interest in me pre-surgery were Ashland,OH, Mansfield State, East Stroudsburgh, Ithaca, Albany and Cortland State. Cortland State had the least impressive program but it was the least expensive school of non-scholarship world. I chose Cortland deciding I'd just miss the Freshman season and go with the 5 years to play 4 thing. Well, I went and watched some games and noticed it was the caliber of football where some of our high school backups could start. Normally, that wouldn't have deterred me above the love of the game. However, my knee never felt the same until about 2-3 full years later so I used that as my decision to never play again. More specifically, I pussied out and pretended I went to school to get a degree.

Today, that's probably the reason I HAVE a degree which enabled me to coach high school football for my first 3 years out of college around working fulltime in a Corporate Fitness program. Later, the same fulltime gig for the same company down in Florida led to working 2 early mornings a week in the strength and conditioning program of the Bucs as a volunteer. I got my entire staff in over with the Bucs and we got alot of free tickets to games from it back when the Browns were on Modell-induced sabbatical leave. At the risk of boring you any more than I've put you through, I'll keep this confined to just an Old Testament. Thanks for reading!

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by PlaygroundLegend

I was always a playground-legend in football baseball etc..

I never played "organized" sports as a child because we didn't have the money to pay for it. (but I still played sports every day)

In high school I bounced around different sports switching it up each time...

Freshman Year I played Football... I was a QB/WR/CB
Sophmore Year I Wrestled
Junior Year I ran track (800m & 400m)
Senior Year I played Rugby (AWESOME SPORT)

In college I had my own flag team for 2 years, and I dabbled in Rugby for a month or so but couldn't afford it

In football im a QB at heart, but I love lining up outside at WR and running deep burner routes... im not that big of a guy (5'11 165 (5% body fat though... all muscle, lol) ) but Im pretty hard to bring down, I pretty much have no care at all for my body and play with a wreckless abandon... very aggressive...

oh... I love getting hit... the harder the better... seriously.. I have no idea why... but nothing is better than getting knocked around by people 2x your weight

Don't go gettin the heebeegeebees or even the beegees here but I LOVE this guy's style. Refreshing as Hell. You are a legend so God bless ya PGL!

Folks, there's absolutley nothing wrong with not playing high school or college football. I really admired and appreciated everyone's stories and experiences. Great reading from an interesting topic choice.

The ONLY time I get frustrated about a lack of game experience is when various media sources that don't get the nitty gritty of man rule blocking or cup protection schemes up front make an incorrect accusation off an observation they doon't fully understand. Consequently, they'll see Joe Thomas riding a guy taking an outside charge on an X-stunt blitz scheme where Steinbach HAS to block the DT head up or inside gap first and foremost because it's the CLOSEST danger to the QB. As such, replay will show Thomas remaining locked up on outside charge guy with Steinbach not REALLY supposed to protect his outside shoulder gap above/beyond his inside shoulder. End result? Steinbach gets over there late once he's comfortable Center is engaged with his first priority. A media guy sees this and assures himself Joe Thomas has All Pro credentials so it's only appropriate to blame Steinbach for not getting there on time. Then the Jeff Schudel's of the world that understand this game less than Mary Kay Cabot make their irresponsible and uneducated conclusions of Steinbach frequently gets beat in pass protection so we don't need his salary commitment over any other 300 pound guy. Is it REALLY the most experienced guy missing the blitz read/tendency? No. I adore Joe Thomas; but I'm pretty confident both he and Alex Mack are VERY thankful a smart, crafty, hard working vet like Eric speeded up their emergence.

Basic man rule blocking and cup protection schemes don't change principles regardless of levels. If anything, they emphasize the need to study opponent tendencies for when the blitz stunts and delayed blitz stunts will challenge their gap integrities.

[Enigmatic Evil]

I always wanted to play Football but I never had the chance. Well I shouldn't say I never had the chance, I never took it. The guy who coached high school football at my school was an asshole. I didn't want to play on the team and they recruited into the middle school and sought after 9th graders to keep their ranks. He had a rotten attitude and no charisma. Not the kind of coach you wanted to play for. That's why our teams always sucked.

I still played Football causally though, pick up games with friends and stuff like that. I grew up watching CFL Football which as we all know is a bit different than the 4-down ball of the south but I've studied the game and become a true fan because of how the game works.

Not playing football in some form in high school is one of my biggest regrets. I should have just gone for it.

[Fooleeze]

I was in the band, YEAH!!!! And played some Tecmo.

If I could go back, maybe I would try to join the team. I'm slightly athletic (very slightly, and slow), but maybe a punter or placekicker. I'm taller with long legs. But in the end, I don't like the idea of some of those nasty injuries you guys get.

[Riffer X]

Good stuff guys. Flugs, loved your story. I forgot to mention I was the long snapper for punts and FG's from my sophomore year on. I actually was the kicker in 9th grade, but one of our guys (and a good friend) started booming the ball and got the job heading into high school. For those unfamiliar with long snapping, that's probably a good thing. It is a bitch, and the pressure is immense, especially when you are vulnerable to getting creamed against candyass teams who coach that stuff.

Me, dad and Rosie.jpg

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Riffer X

Good stuff guys. Flugs, loved your story. I forgot to mention I was the long snapper for punts and FG's from my sophomore year on. I actually was the kicker in 9th grade, but one of our guys (and a good friend) started booming the ball and got the job heading into high school. For those unfamiliar with long snapping, that's probably a good thing. It is a bitch, and the pressure is immense, especially when you are vulnerable to getting creamed against candyass teams who coach that stuff.

Attachment 42

Thanks! Backatchya man! Like the picture too.

[Vegasdogg]

Originally Posted by Flugel

Thanks for reading!

Anytime. I'd call you an old man but your only 4 years older than me. LOL....

[Vegasdogg]

Originally Posted by Riffer X

For those unfamiliar with long snapping, that's probably a good thing. It is a bitch, and the pressure is immense

I thought the rules protected guys under center?

[Riffer X]

Originally Posted by Vegasdogg

I thought the rules protected guys under center?

Pfft......okay. They certainly didn't when I played in the 80's. It was considered chickenshit to go after the long snapper and blow him up, but when you're kicking someone's ass, they liked to take they're shots when they could.

[DawgFan]

Hadn't seen this until today...but here is my history.

Played in Jr High and High School. Kinda smallish (graduated at 5'2"), so had trouble getting on the field until my senior year.

That year, got on after the starting FS got hurt in week 2. Played the next 9 weeks and ended up with 6 INT's (they couldn't resist testing the shrimp in the secondary). Pretty nice season for the guy who was too small to play. Needless to say, no chance of balling at the next level. But I enjoyed every second of it