Attn: Ex-football players

I played 2 years in junior high school (my 8th grade and 9th grade years) and was mainly a wide receiver but played some defensive back.

For the most part, I never played defense in a real game, always offense.

However, one time in a scrimmage, I was playing CB and a guy was running right at me. I got low to the ground and just wrapped my arms around him. Somehow (I don't know how I did it) I was able to stop him AND pick him up off the ground. I finished with a bodyslam. To this day, I still have no idea how I did that. The coach made a big deal about it and on the next play, that guy came after me and tried to cheap-shot me for a couple of plays afterwards!

The only "official" tackle I made in a real game was when I got in late in the final game of the season of my 9th grade year at linebacker of all positions! The other team was running a reverse and it completely fooled our DE on that side. The next thing I know is that the ballcarrier pretty much had a TD if I couldn't catch him and stop him. So, I took an angle on him, and just wrapped my arms around his legs and brought him down close to the sidelines. A couple of their coaches were yelling at me thinking that I hit him out of bounds but no flag was thrown. I then went up to some small guy who was playing CB and made him switch to LB, but fortunately, that was the final play of the game!

 

Jr high and HS Offensive Tackle with a little DT thrown in. Hard to come up with a best hit. It was great fun to run a tackle trap. The look on the DT's face during that split second that he goes from thinking "I've got this tackle made!" to "Damn, I'm gonna get crushed!" is priceless.

My best plays came on tackle traps. On one, I made the trap block, moved off and got a pursuing linebacker, then cut another pursuer. Three knockdowns on one play!

On another, the defense ran a stunt and there was nobody in the hole so I just turned it upfield and led the RB. Made a block on the LB and kept going, now a bit behind the RB. The RB is about to put the move on a guy in front of him, but there are two DBs coming on the angle behind him. I bust a gut and at the last moment, sellout and extend in front of the two DBs, cutting them both just as they are about to unload on my unsuspecting RB. The RB makes the juke on the other guy and sprints the rest of the way for a TD.

When playing DT, the most exciting moments happened when the opposing QB threw an interception and thus became fair game. On one occasion, another guy and I chased the QB downfield for at least forty yards with no idea what was happening on the play. Never came close to catching him, much less hitting him... maybe because we were laughing so hard at his hurried retreat. It looked ridiculous and we got chewed out and had to run laps for not blocking someone closer to the play.

Worst hits were many as well. Many stingers and more than a few losses of breath. One game, a foot came through my facemask and busted my lip. Blood all over the place. Certainly made me look tougher than I really was.

On another play, found myself on my knees with the pile coming straight at me. I couldn't move before I was hit and did a backward pretzel with about 5 guys on top. Ow.

Ah, good times.

 

I played in 7th and 8th grade as a wide receiver. I was the smallest guy on the team. I can't remember exactly, but I'd guess I was a tad over 5 feet and a tad over 100 pounds. I had great hands, which is why I was on the A team both seasons. I wasn't even going to play in 8th grade, but peer pressure got the best of me. I really just wanted to play basketball.

In every sport I've played I've focused more on the finesse part of the game. All the contact and machoness of it all never really interested me; of course, that was largely due to the fact I was a midget!

Worst play: for some inexplicable reason I was on the punt team. One time this guy was running toward me with a full head of steam on the sideline, and I was the last guy back. He lowered his head right into my chest. All I did was grab his facemask and hitch a ride for about five yards 'til he fell down. I got called for the facemask, and it was right on the sideline, so the other team's coach started laughing at me. It sucked.

 

I played rugby, does that count?

 

Played from 7th grade - Freshamn year in college (small D3 school).
Played OG all through my senior year then got moved out to tackle on offense. We ran the delaware wing-T meaning the guards did a lot of pulling, so I got as many hits pulling on traps, counters and sweeps as I did on defense. On defense started off as a DT in 7th-8th grade, moved to OLB/CB as a sophmore (we ran a 4-4 defense so it was definetely more of a LB position but did have flat coverage responsibility). But it was pretty cool before the state playoff game my senior year to see the starting lineup in the paper and see myself playing Power Tackle and Corner Back, dang I never knew I was so athletic!
In college I moved back to guard, same type of offense so pulled a lot.
Best hit, well I can think of 2 really good ones.
1. Pre-season my junior year we were scrimmaging Caldwell I believe and I pulled out from LG and had a tiny DB in my sights. One of the hits that all he could do was say Oh ****! One of the blocks where I literally picked him up and dropped him. To make it even sweeter we ran the play again right after and he was still in the game. THis time he totally rolled over.
2. Senior year I about lost the game for us but I was playing OLB in a 0-0 game and they had the ball on the 8. QB comes downthe line of scrimmage and I read run initially, so I stepped up. Problem was he had an option pass. He dropped 2 steps and lofted one over my head, somehow my DE was back there. He claims he read it all the way, but not sure if he didn't get driven back there. Anyways he's there and holds up the receiver after he makes tha catch. I know my @ss is grass so I'm running in a full sprint to the corenr of the end zone. My DE had the guy turned around right inside the 5 when I get there. I literally ran through him so hard that we bounced once, bounced ont eh the cinder track (about 4-5 yards out of bounds) and ended up against the fence ont eh other side of the track. It was ahuge hit but not one I like to remember because it nearly cost us. Good ending we held them, and won in OT 6-0.

 

Played from Pee - Wee all the way through High School.

Started WR and CB in High School.

Best hit was actually ON ME....I was all alone in the Endzone on a busted play.....QB lofted a pass to me.

It came down and right as I touched the ball, I got leveled from below and above in a scissors type hit...ball popped up, and my teamate picked it up off of the defenders legs where it came to rest after the hit. Touchdown for my team...but not by me.



Best hit was actually a series of hits. We were playing our cross town rival and they had this 5'9" 220 pound running back, who was just a bull.

Impossible to bring down if hit high.

First play from scrimmage, they ran a sweep to my side...I was left Cornerback. I hit him chest high, and he kept going, and I was flat on my back.

So, they ran the same play again. Next play, I hit him in the ankles and stopped him cold.

I had 34 takles on him that day.



DaDakota

 

I played my freshman/sophmore year in high school. I played offensive guard and on the defensive line. I remember having to go up against the seniors in practice who were much larger than me. I would get the crap beat out of me no matter where the ball was or if I was "in" the play. I used to get hit, do a mid-air tumbling 360 vertical, hit the ground hard, get back up, get hit again, do another mid-air tumbling 360, hit the ground hard, etc. .
I just remember I wasn't very big or very good(because I wasn't very big compared to the other players). I didn't learn my plays or blocking assignments. It was just a free for all out there for me. I completely ignored the coaches and sucked in practice hard cause I didn't study play books, etc. . My heart wasn't in it. As a result, I didn't last long. I was like Rudy at Notre Dame during practices. I used to get the crap kicked out of me hard. Some people were made for football and I'm not one of them.

So, your gonna sit there and tell me Sapp had a cheap shot because this offensive lineman was playing like a blind jogger? I have zero remorse. I don't want him to be hurt but that's football.

 

I never played organized football, but we used to play concrete football when I was in jr. high and high school. I used to dive for everything no matter how out of reach it seemed. I once dove for a ball that was going out of bounds into somebody's lawn and slammed into a mailbox. Took the mailbox down. For a second I thought I was Kermit the Frog... I don't remember much, but friends kept saying I said something about "oh my god the rainbows". Not sure... but DAMN that was a hit. I was a legend.

 

I played soccer (goalie) for years, and then somehow I ended up as kicker for our high school football team when our main kicker got suspended. Played in the first six games my junior year, then he came back, so I went to the bench....which meant I transferred to the cross country team.

I never got hit, but one time I had to tackle a guy to save a kickoff return TD. I stopped him but it was a miracle. I think I was 140 pounds back then, and skinny as a rail...I think I tripped him more than I hit him. And I was in pain.

Tried to walk on as Vanderbilt kicker, actually made it past first "round" (not very official) of tryouts, but I gotta admit the night before the second "round" I went to a kegger and saw the sun rise...my performance was less than stellar. Oh well, Vandy football isn't quite the stuff of legend. Woulda been fun. But I did see the sunrise with a sweet Pi Phi trustafarian...it was worth it.

 

8th and 9th Grade
2nd string Middle Line Backer / 3rd string QB

I don't remember any great hits i made but I remember my first practice when I filled the hole then got leveled by the fullback my head was ringing so hard I wondered if it would ever stop. I eventually learned to avoid the block to make the tackle.

My favorite day on the field was the last game of my 9th grade year our starting QB got knocked out of the game and our 2nd QB was failing a class and couldn't suit out. When I came in we were behind 10 pts and I had 2 TD's running and 1 passing and the second running TD was the game winner. I like to thing I went out on top.

 

I played Tight End and Defensive End at Klein Forest. I hope to try to walk on at SFA. I hated playing Tight End because I felt like a caged animal. On defense I could run wild and let loose on the ball carrier. I felt free on defense. My best plays were my junior year, when we were getting blown out in the 3rd quarter, coach finally put me in the game. I made every tackle on that series, I got the running back for a 8 yard loss.

 

Played only 1 year in high-school. Played CB and sometimes 2nd tight-end. My best play was probably either blocking a guy that had a hundred pounds on me on kickoff coverage or making a tackle to hold the lead on a wide-out screen. Worst play was getting nailed by one of my own teammates in practice (huge LB/RB). Sprained my wrist pretty bad, it swelled up about triple its normal size. I had to miss two games, but no one cared cause I SUCKED! I was third string at best, although that is mostly because I was the feared combination of small and slow.

 

Im a sophomore, and I play for the sophomore team at our school. Until this year I used to play the line (Guard, then Tackle cuz they said I wasn't "big" enough to play guard). This year I'm a DT. My best hit that was in a game had to be one of the earholes I laid on a couple kids last year, or maybe the time when I hit a kid as I was pulling and he did a half bacxk flip and landed on the back of his head. I've had better hits at practice though. In Eigth grade, during a tackling drill, I hit a kid so hard, my chin strap fell off, and the coach was all pumped and screaming GREAT HIT!! That's one of the best hits I've seen in a couple years!!

 

Played flag football when i was 6 years old all the way through my sophomore year of high school...played WR.

 

I played from 5th through 8th grade: running back, wing back, quarterback, defensive end, punter, deep snapper, and safety.
I played 'em all...

My best play was in practice one time. I was the 2nd team quarterback. Three of my buddies were my interior OL. They were getting pounded in practice. In the huddle we called a pass play; they conspired that they were going to let the D-line in after me "so I could see what it felt like to get pounded."

Well, they did and I was a scramblin' fool-- not Mike Vick but maybe Fran Tarkenton. It was just hilarious. The play went on for 15 seconds or more. I was never tackled and ended up throwing the ball upfield. It wasn't intercepted.

Mateo's story reminds me about my son. He was a soccer player. The football team was looking for a punter, so on a lark he tries out. He wins the job.

His first game, he comes in to punt and gets a pretty good one off. However, being a soccer player and this being his first live football game ever, he starts loping down the field unawares. Some guy on the punt-return team just comes along and creams him. He never hit the field unaware again.