A New Beginning

A change was needed. I wasn't happy. It just didn't seem like we were on the same page. I just didn't expect it to be so obvious that now was the time. Last night, I quit my football team. I had been playing with this group of guys for a while now, though I had just recently changed from my previous squad to the "Dream Team" of guys, assembled to win the championship where our old team had fallen short. Most of the best players from my last team were with me and we added a new quarterback as well as a safety, and a mishmosh of fill-in guys and things were looking great to start.

Everything was fine. I felt it was a little weird playing with a new quarterback after having played with my younger brother as quarterback for the last 5 years, but the team was winning so I didn't have any gripes.

As the weeks went on though, I started picking up on some of our differences, and I knew that things would probably not work out in the long run. Our quarterback was insistent on throwing the ball deep and would force the ball to another receiver in particular, regardless of how well he was covered. For the most part this didn't harm us in the early going, and I learned to deal with life this way. But as anyone can tell you, the little problems can fester and eventually become big problems and eventually lead to a breakup.

So, we've lost and tied our last two games of the season after shutting out our opponents the first 5 games. Our QB is forcing the ball and now it's resulting in dropped passes by that receiver or interceptions...and I'm getting frustrated running routes when there's little chance I'm gonna get the ball.

Am I not a good wide receiver? Am I not as fast as I used to be? I felt like I was good just a few weeks before when I was playing for the other team, but now I'm not sure. My confidence was dropping and the losses are even more frustrating because I'm not even happy just playing.

So I talk with my old team and they need some guys for a fill-in as they are short handed one game. I've got nothing better to do, so I play with them. Several catches, a touchdown, and an interception...I've still got it. I'm not bad all of a sudden, I'm just not in the right place.

But I've made a commitment to this team and to switch squads near the end of the season would be rude and foolish...plus I've paid to play and we still could win the chamionship. So last night, we played our first playoff game.

The game begins and our same problems are slapping me in the face. I'm being covered by a 5'6" kinda fat white kid and he's trying to bump me at the line. I'm wide open nearly every play, and yet the passes continue to go to the same now-double covered receiver. I bring my mismatch to the quarterback's attention, but nothing changes. He attempts to throw the ball to me once, which I catch for a 20-25 yard gain, only to have the play called back due to a hold on the offensive line. I can't stand it any more, we're down 0-11 and I know we should be winning, if only we were on the same page.

And then it happens. Our lineman, who's acting as the coach, lets some random shithead, who claims to play semi-pro ball and who they brought in to be a playoff ringer, take my spot and I have to sit the last drive of the season. By the way, wouldn't you think that a semi-pro player should get paid? Isn't that the whole difference between pro and rec? I guess he must be more semi and less pro, though he somehow gets the QB to throw him two straight passes to start the drive, which he proceeds to let go right through his hands.

And at this moment, I knew our relationship was over. It couldn't have been more of a slap in the face than to not only get benched in a rec game, but to have it happen for no reason (I haven't dropped any passes, and I scored a TD the game before, despite only getting that one pass thrown my way) and to be replaced by someone who has only come to one other game of ours and is a giant douche.

So I take off my jersey, take off my gloves, and wait out the last 1:30 on the clock before making my final exit. In case I didn't mention, we lost 0-11, ending our season. We were a good team, but not a great team, and apparently we couldn't win a championship together. And since I wasn't happy, it's best I move on. And if I also didn't mention, my 6 year relationship with my girlfriend ended one week prior to this debacle. It's time for a new beginning.

Thank you all for your support thusfar. I'm sure I'll find a team where everyone is on the same page soon enough.