Quote:
Originally Posted by G NASTY
So because a kid is chubby at age 6 or 8 and would end up on an O-Line means he can't work himself into shape playing soccer?
Yeah, I've thought about this in my case. I was definitely a chunky kid but I also have just an overall big frame. Not sure how things would have turned out had I played soccer or something as a kid.
Football is my third favorite sport. My first love was always basketball. I was actually a pretty good post player as a kid but when my height settled at 5'11 I spent my career glued to the bench before getting cut in 11th grade. Coach liked me cuz I was a high energy guy but joked that they had to time me with a calander.
Baseball is huge in my family. My dad and I played catch all the time and he threw me batting practice virtually every summer day my entire life. I was a pretty decent singles hitter but had no power despite being big and strong (memorably, my uncle who was coaching the other team came out of the dugout and yelled "Contact hitter" signalling the outfield to move in before everyone of my at bats in a VFW league game). I also somehow throw like a hybrid of Johnny Damon and Tim Tebow. I spent my high school career as a pinch hitter.
Football, despite being unathletic was something I could excell at simply by being smart and putting in the effort in the weight room. I was a good player, an all-conference player, a captain. It was a huge boon to my self-esteem and popularity. It also gave me the confidence to explore other interests (like the chess team), confident that nobody would pick on me. I was even able to protect the
other chess nerds from bullying just by having them seen with me. I tried out for the D3 football team in college, and despite being horribly out matched was able to make some friends right away that helped me transition to college including my best friend to this day. I was never gonna be an academic failure but social failure was a possibilty as a pimply chunky kid with braces. College ended up being a blast.
tl;dr but football ended up being awesome for me personally in a way that I doubt any other activity could have been. I shall defend her to the death!