The Aftermath of High School Football

One thing that most every American has in common is that they have attended high school. Whether public, private or home-schooled, most everyone can say that they..ve had a basic education. For those of us who went to school in a large building with other people, we know it can either be a wonderful or hellish situation. For instance, those four years are usually more glamorous for the quarterback than the runt he shoves into a locker everyday. Though the life of the high school quarterback is admired and mostly envied, I think we forget that usually after those four years his peak has been reached. Most quarterbacks don..t go on to play in the NFL or even college. Instead, they are usually introduced to reality and it's a much bigger drop for them than the rest of his graduating class.

In the poem "Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio" by James Wright, it shows how big of a deal football can be. At a university like Alabama, it's the same situation. I can't drive down our main street without seeing a car with an Alabama decal on their windshield and it's impossible to avoid dirty looks when wearing an orange t-shirt. Tuscaloosa loves their Crimson Tide, so it must be an even bigger deal for a small town that idolizes a high school team. Small towns aren't exactly distracted by the non-existent Best Buy, dozens of McDonalds or a Starbucks, they have one giant source of entertainment and it's their eleven teenaged heroes who will hopefully make their hometown proud. When Wright's poem reads, "All the proud fathers are ashamed to go home", it refers to those fathers who were usually former heroes themselves. They dream of having a legacy and live vicariously through their son's performance the previous Friday. Their girlfriends hang on to them for dear life, praying they'll go pro and get them out of that God forsaken town, or as Wright would say, "cluck like starved pullets". Not to mention everybody in town greets them on the street, pats them on the back and adds girth to their already swollen head.

All that love and admiration can't be humbling to a person and I don't think they were ignored prior to that. All their lives, they have been told they were their fathers little quarterback or lineman, depending on their metabolism. Another divine privilege of theirs was that they've been told they would be superstars and got plenty of cheers and reinforcement when they played in Pee Wee and Junior Varsity. I'm not saying it's wrong for parents to encourage their children, but when they get older and begin to confuse themselves with God, consequences could unfold.

The most apparent of these consequences, becoming a cocky football player, isn't necessarily immediate. Unless they blow some big play, high school should be a nice few years for these guys. I'm referring to the years immediately after high school, when they're athletic skills on the gridiron are less valued. The jocks are hit with a cold splash of reality that is spelled out in bright neon letters that they are no longer as special as they once were. In "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", Brick is a perfect example of an ex-jock. Though his compulsive drinking could be a good reason to believe this, I want to focus more on his foot injury. He walks around on crutches because of a foot injury he sustained while attempting to relive the glory days. Years ago, he was running around that same track like he owned it and was an admired student, which helps me understand why working as a sports announcer, whether it's at your high school or on ESPN, can't be as rewarding. Living in the past is a crutch (P- P- P- Pun) and despite the cliché, its abnormally appropriate, seeing how Brick asks for his on several occasions.

A more contemporary example of a former jock that can't get out of (or in) the past is Uncle Rico from "Napoleon Dynamite". Rico is more of a comical idea of what happens to popular jocks once they're hey-day is may-day; I say this because I don't remember Brick trying to buy a time machine off of EBay. However, there is one thing that Brick and Rico have in common, they both miss being looked up to.

Craving respect is not something ex-jocks exclusively do. Most everybody wants to be respected or at least taken seriously because it's only natural; the difference between jocks and regular people is that jocks have a backwards experience with respect. Usually, in order to get respect, people have to work for it and earn it. I know that any respect or success I've ever received was through a lot of hard work. What motivates us to work for respect is that we have never had a lot of it, not the way jocks have it anyway. Respect or feelings of success occur in spoonfuls, or cc's if you play for Giants, which is the way it should be. It comes in the form of getting an A on a paper, jogging every morning or winning a free Pepsi. Though the rewards aren't large they are however consistent and throughout life, while athletes get one lump sum.

Naturally talented athletes experience the exact opposite; they brag about how they never have to work out, they show up for practice ten minutes late and throw game winning passes without breaking a sweat (metaphorically anyways). Their respect or feelings of success aren't in the form of a constant string of moderate victories; instead, it's sort of like the sales record for the "Y2K survivor kit" (Think about it). I think it would be far more difficult to be start out with success and lose it, then to start out average and then eventually attain it; it's like eating filet mignon for lunch and having a Whopper for dinner. However this isn't the jock's fault. In Nature vs. Nurture, where nature is instinctive and nurture is something taught; this is by far, a nurtured habit.

A parent is the first and biggest influence in a child's life. If a parent raises they're child to believe they're worthless, they may grow up lacking confidence. Now in the other direction, if the parent raises a child to believe they're the eighth world wonder, they just might take a hint. Back to "Cat", Brick was definitely favored over his brother Gooper and it wasn't because Gooper was a slacker. Despite the name that resembles a particular mechanic from Mayberry, Gooper was a successful corporate lawyer and was well deserving of respect. It seems like the more academically successful child would be in favor with Big Daddy but that wasn't the case. According to Big Daddy, Brick is flawless, can do no wrong and is definitely not gay. This must be frustrating to poor Gooper who probably had a secret wish to possess his father's approval and Brick could care less. Brick is completely unaware of anybody approving or even loving him. When someone actually comes out and says it to him all he can say is "Wouldn..t it be funny if that was true?" Even though Brick doesn't really care what his father thinks, Big Daddy has always favored him and that could be some source of confidence, if anyway, subconsciously. It honestly wouldn't matter if Brick appreciates Big Daddy's respect or not, the support is still there and Brick is familiar with it. Respect and encouragement like this ruins people and I know that's not usually true to life. Both respect and encouragement are usually considered good things that hopefully motivate people to do something with themselves, but that's only when it's in healthy doses. Like any stimulant, encouragement can only be used so much before someone becomes addicted to it and cause long term damage to themselves.

The reason I chose this is the refusual to believe that high-school and college have to be the best years of your life. I wouldn't want to live that way because that would mean I have a year or so left before it's all down hill. There are so many other victories that can occur later in life, not in the form of a gift but as a reward. If someone is unfortunate enough to be born with natural talent, I hope for their sake they enjoy the free sample because the full meal costs a lot more.