“I wanna go to the football boys” is a phrase I hear at least seven times before we go to school and about twenty after. A two-year old doesn’t understand the days of the week and why everyday isn’t game day. There are a lot of tears shed every morning at drop off when he realizes I am pulling into school instead of the football field. He tells everyone that they are his “friends” and it is a good thing he has the passion because he had no choice but to love this life we live.
I have never for one second thought about raising my boys in such a scrutinized situation. They were born into a football family and they get a new band of brothers every year. They weren’t born into money and they will probably have to work harder than most of the people they will grow up alongside but their investment into the lives of young men has no price tag.
MT isn’t old enough yet but KB watches these boys and the other coach’s every move. He plays pretend football in our living room and cheers on the team by using our football players names. For a two year old, he can point out a few of the players on the field and call them by name. He has no idea that the man that is raising him is also raising other young men too.
My boys didn’t have a choice to be born into a football family but I am so glad that they were. They will forever have strong, disciplined, hard working men to look up to. They will always have a team standing behind them cheering them on. They will know the value of nothing comes easy and hard work will pay off. They won’t be taking fancy vacations every year or traveling the world but they will be traveling all over the state of Texas cheering on their favorite football boys on Friday nights.
Thanks to COVID-19 my boys don’t get to see the players as much this year. They can’t go onto the field after the game and give them a high five. They don’t get to wrestle at team dinners and hang out at the field house. But I hope at the end of the season, the “football boys” know this little boy thinks they are the coolest kids on this planet. Win or lose, he loves his football boys.
