‘Is quitting the answer?’ This was notably one important question I would ask myself time after time.  Maybe I would think, ‘Should I just continue playing football?  Do I dare take the chance of trying cross-country?’ These questions commonly flashed into my head while sitting at home.  My dream for myself is to be blinded by the flashes of cameras, stunned by the screams of the crowd, and being able to see my dad smile, proud of my accomplishments, as I make my way to the state cross-country course ready for the start.

Endless years of injuries, which took me out of sports seasons at a time, gave me very little hope in completing that goal, as other kids in my grade would be finishing right before my eyes.  Even though I tried to keep up with my friends.  I could tell that my back and hips seemed to be weakened by the overuse of the winter training.  I enjoyed playing football; needless to say, I believed I had to make a choice for personal and physical reasons that mentally ate at my mind. It took a great toll on me when making a choice to quit a sport that I have been doing for two years of my life.  The moment I even thought about quitting was depressing. I even told myself that is was just a thought, yet it seemed to get increasingly stronger as time went on.  I told my girlfriend, McKensie, first just to see how she would take it.  It took all I had just to gain the courage to tell her. “I want to quit football so badly.  I don’t feel the enjoyment anymore like I used to back in my freshman year.”  As predicted, she was shocked but supported any choice I made because she wanted me to be happy in the end.  I was mainly scared and timid of the outcome, especially with the thought of telling my dad.  Soon I confronted my dad and told him. “Dad, do you have a minute?  I have a something to tell you.”

He simply confronted me and said, “Son, you’re just having some type of phase, and you will quickly overcome whatever it is.” He was wrong.

The day after, with sweat rolling down my neck and every breath seeming harder to take, I walked into my former coach’s office.  Instantly, he knew something was wrong, so he asked me, “What do you need, Gabe?”
I was straightforward and told him, “Coach, I’m thinking about quitting football.  It’s just that I truly don’t enjoy it anymore.  I feel that I can go and do other sports or other activities, but after this season I don’t think I can allow myself to go through another one.” 

Ringing, off of his office walls, anger from my former coach seemed so strong it felt as if I was demolished by on-coming traffic.  Even though I tried explaining my story, one side of me said, ‘Gabe, what are you thinking?  Football has been a part of you for two years now.  How can you possibly quit? If you quit football, you will let everyone down, including your dad.’  The more I thought about it, the angrier I became with myself. Regardless, the other half of me still said, ‘I truly love running and high jump, and the feeling I get when all the hard work pays off when I obtain my goals.’  I did not feel like a failure or any less than an athlete, for I grew from negative results, so I pushed my myself more and more till I achieved my goal.  ‘I am done with the feeling of being a second option even though all the time I spent in the weight room.  It’s time for me to go a different path from football just to prove everyone wrong.’

Yes, it was a great shock to my dad. However, once he was able to see how truly happy I was quitting football and doing cross-country, it really didn’t matter to him. 

On some days I tell myself that I made the wrong decision.  At times I wish I could go back in time to change everything. Indeed, some days I feel as if I should’ve stayed in football. However, I take a look around at my cross country teammates, I see how much I mean to the team and how much the team truly accepts me.  This helped but made it difficult when the football season started.  It felt as if I tried to lock myself in my own asylum, free from anything with the word football.  Now I watch the games and even collect professional football cards as a hobby because, in reality, it’s impossible to even avoid football from the months August through December. 
Every day I try to go to cross country practice with the thought of improving my long distance running.  My body is almost forever stuck on sprints that I did endlessly times in football practice.  I love the feel after a run and how healthy I feel after six miles. There will be days that my legs or knees won’t even move for weeks, yet I can’t explain how much I enjoy running and letting my mind settle in on the run.  Before I know it, my run is nearly over.  My goal now is to make it to state in cross country.  I really don’t know if it will ever happen; however, I am going to try to overcome any adversity that is keeping me away from my goal.