Football season is officially a WRAP! 


I have to say it has certainly been a 'season'.  There have been ups and downs as well as highs and lows.  As I looked through a couple of the last games I shot ... I must say ... my photography has gotten worse!  I can't believe how many GREAT plays I missed.  I did capture many great moments though.  But would you believe ... some of the moments I'm most proud of never made it to film.  Or the shots were too blurry.  Or the sunlight washed out the images.  Or I just wasn't fast enough.


Boy had an AWESOME season!  I'm so incredibly proud of him.  He scored many a touchdown; sacked more than one quarterback; gained needed yards on the field ... Boy had a GREAT season!  The last game he punted a ball, it bounced off a kid, Boy caught it (YES!  He caught his own punt) and came within a few yards of scoring a touchdown before he was tackled!  And those QB sacks ... WOW!  Those were impressive!


All that said ... what makes me MOST proud of this kid are the shots I didn't always get. 


During his last game I was incredibly touched after he tackled a player on the other team.  Boy reached down his hand and pulled him to his feet giving him a couple of pats on the back.  I could see him say something to the kid as he helped him up off the ground.  I saw this often on the field this season.  It makes my heart smile everytime I think about it.  This is character.  This is good sportsmanship.  This is caring about others.  This is a reflection of who my son is.  This matters more to me than every touchdown this kid ever scored.  This kid cares and his actions reflect that.


At a game a couple of weeks ago our team was way ahead of the other so the coach put in our 7th graders to play in the last quarter.  One of the 7th graders (#11) is a tiny little guy named Tommy.  Kevin really likes Tommy and when Kevin found out Tommy was going in the game you could hear my Boy yelling way up in the stands.  "All right Tommy!  Get out there!  You can do it!"  That Boy of mine cheered this kid on the whole time he was in the game.  Everytime Tommy did something you could hear Kevin yelling words of encouragement to Tommy (as well as others out on the field).


Instead of being bitter that the 7th graders got to play the last quarter ... the 8th graders cheered them on and encouraged them.  I'm not used to hearing Boy scream and holler like that, but boy, did it do my heart good!  This kid gets it!  Life is about encouraging others to always do their best.  He gets that we're supposed to cheer others on and truly be happy for them.  Isn't that cool!


Football season isn't my favorite.  I'll admit that I'm fearful something will happen to my Boy out on that field ... broken bones or possibly something worse.  Thankfully we didn't face anything like that.  What football season revealed was my Boys character ... and I'm thankful and proud of the man he is becoming.  I believe that God has great things planned for this kid and this kid ... is going to achieve those things!
































The WORST thing that happened all season ... Boy stopped wearing his ORANGE shoes!  And therefore I couldn't find him on the field.  That TOTALLY stunk for me!