our HS football team was made up of the type of jocks who let there egos get the better of them.
there was a freshmen kid who trying out for the team, there was nothing really special about the kid. he was overwieght. barely talked, got picked on alot. when we first saw him in the lockerroom alot of us thought he wouldnt last a week during conditioning (myself includeD).
but the kid stuck it out. he was slow, couldnt do as many pushups or grassers as everyone else on the team, and would pretty much explode into a coughing fit after every drill. but he still stuck it out and never did quit. i gave him props for that and learned to respect his commitment.
the couches were talking about putting the kid on the line. which a agreed he'd be good for.
then during 2-weekers, i find out that some of the slacking freshmen were bullying this kid, trying to get him to quit so they could take his spot. they pretty much took shots at his weight,looks,everything.
the kid was overweight, but from the way i saw him at practise, he was constantly working his arse off to be on the team. he earned his place.
one day 3 of some whiney freshmen had the kid cornered behind the school, they were doing the usual, taking shots at his weight, his social life, etc.
i heard one of the say that he couldnt make any friends in life.
when he said that, i decided to walk over, put my arm around the freshmen, and told him he could come chill with me& the seniors at the dairy shack.
i still remeber the look of shock on all the little ones faces. they were so speechless
me& my friends on the team gave the kid the best advice we knew, about football and about dealing with bullies. the biggest one being for him to keep his cool around them, so he doesnt get kicked off the team like they wanted him to be.
the kid went on to be the best shotgun snapper we had on our whole team. never messed up a play as center.
2 of the 3 little ones who bullied him droped off the team due to them not being able to survive 2 adays, and the one that did stay on the team became nothing more than a bench warmer.
we still let the kid hang out with us at the dairy shack, he's really not a bad guy.
we're helping him get started on p90x to get rid of his weight problem.
