football is HERE!!

one of the hardest things about football season this year is the fact that it is the first year neither nate, jon, nor phil will be playing. incredibly awkward, since they have been playing football forever. or at least it feels like it. i will miss roadtrips, making t-shirts, guessing what play will be run next, making fun of the stupid people who don't know what they are talking about, and just cheering on/supporting my brothers.

i have loved brett favre for as long as i can remember. yes, i know that means he is incredibly old, but i still love him and i hope he has an amazing season and i will be sad when he retires.
here are two of my favorite quotes about being an athlete that i think most athletes can appreciate:

It's not about getting a scholarship, getting drafted, or making Sports Center. It's a deep need in us that comes from the heart. We need to practice, play, to lift, to hustle, to sweat, to compete. We do it all for our teammates. We don't lift weights with a future Olympic wrestler; we lift with a future doctor. We don't run with a future Wimbledon champion; we run with a future CEO. It's a bigger part of us than our friends and family can understand. Sometimes we compete in front of 200,000 fans, sometimes in front of 25. But we still compete to win. You cheer for us because you know us. You know more than just our names. Like all of you, we are still students first. We don't sign autographs for money. But we do sign graduate school applications, MCAT exams, and student body petitions. When we miss a kick, strike out, jump the gun, or foul a throw, we don't let down an entire state. We only let down our teammates, coaches, and fans. But the hurt in our hearts is the same. We train hard. Lift, throw, run, kick, shoot, dribble, and lift some more, and in the morning we go to class. Still the next day in class we are nothing more than students. It's about pride; in ourselves, in our school. It's about our love and passion for the game. And when it's all over; when we walk off that court, field, or track for the last time, our hearts crumble. Those tears are real. But deep down inside, we are very proud of ourselves. We will forever be what few can claim: COLLEGE ATHLETES

People don't play sports because its fun. Ask any athlete...most of them hate it, but they couldn't imagine their life without it. It's part of them, the Love/Hate relationship. It's what they live for. They live for the practices, parties, cheers, long bus rides, invitationals, countless pairs of different types of shoes, water, Gatorade, & coaches you hate but appreciate. They live for the way it feels when you beat the team next to you by 1 point in overtime, and you know those 2 extra sprints you ran in practice were worth it. They live for the way you become a family with your team. They live for the countless songs you sing in your head when you're running ALL those suicides. They live for the competition. They live for the friends, the practices, the memories, the pain. It's who they are. It's who we are. WE ARE ATHLETES...