College Football Experience

My career as a student-athlete was a catastrophe. My first two years was a rollercoaster ride filled with unbelievable twists and turns. The transition from high school to college can be a problematic experience for anyone, especially if they are not prepared or focused. Athletically, it became overwhelming to me because I wasn’t mentally prepared which poured over to academics. The jump from high school to major college football is a substantial one in terms of speed, talent, physicality, and complexities of the game. It all started when the freshmen reported to campus. The start of two-a-day practices was less than a month away and the coaches wanted to get us on campus to start out to get adjusted to life away from home and the demands of
Everybody in our class was blue-chip recruits, there were no bad players. We were all on the same team and we had to prove ourselves all over again. They made it well known that they were looking for playmakers who was ready to step up to major college football. The college game is played at a faster tempo by quicker, stronger and more explosive players than in the high school. We were doing one-on-one drills against the defensive backs one morning practice in Neyland Stadium. I was going against Mark Fletcher, the hard-hitting safety from Cincinnati. I ran a five-yard hitch route. Fletch got an excellent break because by the time I caught the pass, he hit me so hard that he cut my chin. Welcome to the SEC!
My practice habits were erratic at best. I lacked completion, commitment, and consistency running the routes, catching routine passes and learning the system. At times, I looked like a fish
At that time, Gibbs Hall, the athletic dorm was being renovated and we lived in South Carrick. It was there I became obsessed with the social aspects of college. My life shifted to doing as many things as possible to escape my reality. I spent as least time as possible around the complex. I went to meeting, weight trainings and practice. Other than that I playing spades in North Carrick. South Carrick housed the girls and North Carrick was for the boys. Like moths to a flame, we gravitated to North Carrick because that’s where all the action was. There was always something going on in North Carrick. It was the place where we hung out chilling, talking trash, and playing cards. I was one of the best spades players on campus. If there was a spades game on campus chances were I was somewhere in the mix. When I wasn’t playing cards, I was either hanging on the strip, at a Greek party or flirting with some girl. The first girl I dated at UT was a junior. She caught my eye one night while I was playing cards in North Carrick. She was a very attractive young lady. She was a sexy little petite lady with light brown eyes with shoulder length hair. But there was one obstacle. She was dated one of my teammates when they were in high school. I wasn’t sure whether they were still messing around, but I knew one thing, I wanted to go out with her.