I was never the most athletic person, and by just looking at me you would never think that I played on the offensive line. But ever since I started playing football that was where I was put. That is where I learned the most important lessons of my life.

I played football for 8 years. Ran countless sprints, hills, and worked out tirelessly in the weight room. It wasn’t until I joined the Varsity team that I started to enjoy the sport. It wasn’t the plethora of games that we played(the royal ‘we’ I never really played much), or the exhilarating feeling you got after winning a game that made me enjoy the sport so much(even though those moments were special).

It was summer training that I loved, however at the time I would have told you otherwise. It was here at 6:30 in the morning that friendships were forged, camaraderie instilled, and hard work was taught. It was on those mornings that I was taught what it meant to be successful.

The training was broken down into 5 parts:

1. Cone Drills
2. Weight Lifting
3. Hills
4. Individual Techniques
5. Gassers(50 yard sprints in which down and back-down and back was counted as 1…we did 4)

Throughout the whole time of this regimen our coaches would be yelling at us to: “Run through the cones…you cannot have effort without enthusiasm…do not bend over, do not show weakness,” and while we ran our hills our head coach would always say: “what a beautiful day,” whether it was sunny or raining and, “You gotta run the hills in life to get to the top!”

To me, after a while, all of these platitudes just became white noise. Something that they would say just so you wouldn’t be lethargic throughout the whole training. I would be lying if I said that after a while I started to hate their ‘catch phrases,’ in fact many of the players, when the coaches weren’t around or out of ear shot, would poke fun at such silly phrases.

It wasn’t until the end of my senior year, going into college that what they were saying wasn’t just intended to make us better football players, but build character and make us better people. Our coaches were preparing us for once we eventually left the safe confines of High School, into a world that can be as unforgiving as it can be beautiful. They were preparing us for the times where life knocks you down, and you really consider not getting back up.

I would be lying to all of you if I said that I have never thought about quitting, about giving up, about laying down and feeling sorry for myself. Whenever I feel this way, however, I always hear my coach screaming: “Quit feeling sorry for yourself, stop bending over, and finish the damn drill!” Whenever I feel like I’ve half-assed an assignment or project I hear him yelling: “Finish through the cones!” Whenever I’ve felt that college was too much I hear him say: “You gotta sprint the hills in life to get to the top!”

Even though we won a small amount of games, my time as a Greenville Football player shaped and molded me into the person I am today. Without Dave Moore, Dave Fortino, Andy Fedder, Mike Rasmussen, Rick Plate, Mat Stone, Mike Walsh, and countless others, I wouldn’t have the tools nor the constitution to take on 2 majors, and continue to get good grades and take risks in life.

Thank you and I hope that you continue to influence the lives of young men.

Best,

#68 Mitchell Timmerman