Personal Essay: Football Injury
College Essay Practice had just started, the ball was thrown to me, but it was below my knees and the way I rearranged my body to catch the ball caused my ankle to stick into the ground like a stake holding up a camping tent; it was stuck. My ankle twisted and I was no longer able to walk without a limp. I knew something was wrong. I knew then and there I would have to seek medical help from a doctor, I knew the school trainer could not do anything for me. Soon enough the x-ray results showed a fracture would sideline me for half of the season. Devastation clouded over me and I did not know what to do. I felt as if I was now useless to the team. As a player I only cared about myself and how I was doing on the field during games. I was not
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one to talk to other teammates often because I did not care for what they had to say, their opinions were irrelevant to me. When another teammate would try to give me advice I would brush them off because in my head I thought anything a teammate could tell me I already knew. In my mind I thought there was no use in showing up to practice anymore since the only thing I wanted to do for my team was to play. I did not want to have to sit on the sidelines of a practice wasting my time watching other kids do what i can do better. Soon, my ambitions began to change.
After a couple weeks dwelling on the sidelines I came into conversation with a few teammates which I never would have if it was not for my injury. Repeated conversations with these players every day put growth into my personality and attitude towards the team as a whole. By only talking to these teammates they made it clear what it meant to be a true team player. My eyes were opened which allowed me to see how I was acting around my team before my injury occurred. Noticing the selfish intentions i had previous to my injury I wanted to change, but I had to do it through my actions. Since I refused to accept constructive criticism before my injury, I decided I should give some to my teammates while injured. One particular instance is what changed me. During one of our games the player who was filling in for me got upset over turning the ball over to the other team. I told him to run lower and secure the ball high and tight against his chest with both hands on the ball. As the game went on I continued to share advice with my teammate making him a better player as the game progressed. This player got to a score a touchdown and afterwards he came over to me and thanked me for all the help I had given him throughout the course of the game. This warmed me and made me realize what it meant to help others besides
myself.
Through my failure due to injury I was able to become more aware of the type of person I was being and was able to change who I was. Before my injury I would not have even thought to help another teammate while they were down. Instead of only worrying about myself I could use the knowledge I had to help others on the field. I learned being selfish and self centered around others is only a negative effect to those surrounding. Not taking any help from others when they know something is wrong or needs to be changed will only hurt an individual. Once I learned to stop being selfish and care about others by guiding them through practice and games I saw the true value of what it meant to This injury not only helped me on the field but it also helped me become a better man off the field as well.
one to talk to other teammates often because I did not care for what they had to say, their opinions were irrelevant to me. When another teammate would try to give me advice I would brush them off because in my head I thought anything a teammate could tell me I already knew. In my mind I thought there was no use in showing up to practice anymore since the only thing I wanted to do for my team was to play. I did not want to have to sit on the sidelines of a practice wasting my time watching other kids do what i can do better. Soon, my ambitions began to change.
After a couple weeks dwelling on the sidelines I came into conversation with a few teammates which I never would have if it was not for my injury. Repeated conversations with these players every day put growth into my personality and attitude towards the team as a whole. By only talking to these teammates they made it clear what it meant to be a true team player. My eyes were opened which allowed me to see how I was acting around my team before my injury occurred. Noticing the selfish intentions i had previous to my injury I wanted to change, but I had to do it through my actions. Since I refused to accept constructive criticism before my injury, I decided I should give some to my teammates while injured. One particular instance is what changed me. During one of our games the player who was filling in for me got upset over turning the ball over to the other team. I told him to run lower and secure the ball high and tight against his chest with both hands on the ball. As the game went on I continued to share advice with my teammate making him a better player as the game progressed. This player got to a score a touchdown and afterwards he came over to me and thanked me for all the help I had given him throughout the course of the game. This warmed me and made me realize what it meant to help others besides
myself.
Through my failure due to injury I was able to become more aware of the type of person I was being and was able to change who I was. Before my injury I would not have even thought to help another teammate while they were down. Instead of only worrying about myself I could use the knowledge I had to help others on the field. I learned being selfish and self centered around others is only a negative effect to those surrounding. Not taking any help from others when they know something is wrong or needs to be changed will only hurt an individual. Once I learned to stop being selfish and care about others by guiding them through practice and games I saw the true value of what it meant to This injury not only helped me on the field but it also helped me become a better man off the field as well.