Football and its ageless connections

We are just one week away from the celebration for the 50th anniversary of the Undefeated 1966 Big Ten Conference Football Team. This week, I wanted my story to reflect the connections and brotherhood that football has represented over the years at NHS.

Nevada has had football for many years. In the Wednesday November 26th, 1930 Nevada Daily Mail, a front page article forecasted the following day's game to be played on Thanksgiving afternoon in Lamar.

I've visited with several people from that era, and they told me that it was sort of a tradition in both towns for fans to enjoy their Thanksgiving dinner, then travel to watch the game at 2 p.m. Several reminded me that it was often a very cold game to watch, late in November.

The span of years that Nevada has enjoyed football dates back to 1898. It is a testimony to the game, the players and the fans who have kept this sport as such a large part of the fabric of our town for so very long.

Here are my thoughts on just why football has meant so much to so many. There have been countless young men, like myself, who were not what you would consider 'gifted athletes.' Most of us in this category loved sports and wanted to play and watch them all.

In the time I grew up in Nevada, there were only four basic sports (football, basketball, track and baseball) during the calendar year. In the winter, there was only basketball. As a kid, I played in pickup games around town, but once I reached the time for tryouts at school, it was easy to see that I was not going to make the cut. Basketball teams traditionally have about ten players on a team, of which about seven or eight actually get much playing time.

In football, any coach will tell you that he will gladly take 75 kids, if they want to come out and spend the time and effort to become a player. In a football game, there is a place for just about every level of skilled athlete.

I was always big for my age, even as a youngster. That also equated to me not being very fast as a runner. That did not prevent me from finding a spot as a member on the football team. A lot of guys just like me down through the years have found a position on the offensive or defensive line. Remember, there are always 11 players on the field at any given moment.

During the game there will be multiple substitutions of players, depending upon the game situation. You also find spots for kids to play on what we called 'special teams.' These included punt and kickoff teams. The point is that if just about any kid with a reasonably healthy body comes out for football, they can and do find a place for you to play and to be a member of the 'TEAM!' All it takes is desire and hard work.

My love of the game of football led me eventually to spend a few years as a high school assistant coach. It was, and shall remain to be, one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Perhaps I can best explain the meaning of the 'TEAM.' concept in football with a story from that era. In the last few years of my coaching career, I left high school coaching and took over the 7th grade team for a couple of years in El Dorado Springs.

In my last year there, I had a small young boy named D.J. come out for football. He was so small, that we had a hard time finding a helmet that would fit him.

Our head coach had a rule for our program back then. He said that any kid who came out for football in junior high, 9th grade or junior varsity came to practice and made his grades in the classroom, he was going to be guaranteed to play at least one quarter of each game. His theory was simple. We were going to develop players for the future varsity, and sometimes those future players were not as big or strong in their early years.

D.J. fit into this category. We had about a five game schedule for the 7th grade that season. Each week, I would find a spot in the 2nd half of each game for D.J. to go in and play on the defensive line. I just couldn't think of any other place to put him, given his ability and size at that time.

I told him to stay low and get in the legs of the other team's players. D.J never once complained about his role, and he never missed a practice. That led to perhaps my favorite coaching memory of all time.

On the last play of the last game I ever coached, we had forced the other team to punt on 4th down. D.J. was in his usual spot in the 4th quarter, as a defensive right inside tackle. The other team snapped the ball over the kicker's head into their end zone. There was a big scramble of players, and guess what? When the whistle blew, there was D.J. having recovered the ball for a touchdown.

He was mobbed by his teammates, and treated as if he had just scored the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. I have never in my life, been so happy for a kid.

Years later I ran into D.J. and he had grown into a fine young man with a family. He still called me 'coach,' and he said he would never forget those games, nor his times playing for me. If you want to know why football remains important, that is the reason in the proverbial 'nutshell!' As long as there is football, there will be D.J.'s and memories of a lifetime in the fraternity of football!