Pigskin Season

The freshmen football season is over for my 9th grade grandson. I have already congratulated him on a good season -- and it was. All his teammates played well, and they seemed to have a good time.

Grandson has played two years -- beginning last year as an 8th grader. Last year when he began, I'm not sure that he really knew which end of the field was his. This year, he had a bunch of tackles, a bunch of pass knock-downs, a couple of interceptions, a good punt return, a wisely chosen fair catch, and four touchdowns. This last one needs a little more explaining. I did notice that after every TD and reasonably long runs, he always thanked his teammates for their blocks. This is a real good sign.

Now, none of these qualify him for All-America status, and it's much too early to be counting college scholarships. If he is willing to work at the game (and do all that's required), he is now in a position where he may be ready to start learning how to play -- if that's what HE wants.