I Am The Lemon: The Day I Quit Football

Sometimes, we don’t realize we’re holding a lemon until it feels too late to make lemonade, and then we want to drop it and move on to something better. While trying out for Junior College (JUCO) football, I felt like the lemon.

I started playing football at seven and could not see myself doing anything else with my life. I was playing Madden, setting up cone drills in my front yard, and meeting up with our quarterback at a park to work on routes.

A young me wanted to go to Florida State and play football like his idol, Warrick Dunn. During the summers of my junior and senior years, I attended a football camp at Fresno State University, and I became more aware of the competition throughout the country. I decided to attend Modesto Jr. College to continue playing and developing for two more years before jumping to a four year.

I have always been the little guy on the field but never let it set me back. I lived by the quote, “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” I was often chosen as a team captain from youth football to high school. I wasn’t loud and vocal; I just worked hard. But the JUCO experience was much different.

The Spring ball starts with over 100 players hoping to join the team for the Fall. These are some of the best guys from around Central California and more. I make it through the Spring and Summer training. As Summer ends, some players get their pads, helmets, and numbers they’ll wear for the team. A new player or two is sent to the equipment room daily to get their gear. Some days players are excused from the team entirely. A few weeks pass, and everyone has pads except another guy and me. The coach tells the two of us we’re welcome to keep participating, hoping for a spot to open for us. I felt like the lemon.

That day was Aug 9, 2007. I know the date because it was my mother’s birthday. My family was about to have dinner at Olive Garden, and I spent another four to five hours of my Summer trying to make a JUCO football team.

After watching the film and hitting the weight room, the field portion of practice was about to begin. Once practice moved to the field; I couldn’t participate because I wasn’t in pads. It is embarrassing to show up day after day and not be counted in. I walked to my car and left as the rest of the team went out to the field. I was quitting. The coaches may not have directly cut me, but I felt I was cut.

I joined my family for dinner, and they picked me up. They knew I was talented enough to play for this team. Despite my embarrassment and lack of confidence, my parents, past teammates, and coaches wouldn’t let me quit on myself. I returned to practice the next day and earned my pads a few days after that.

I was not a captain. I did not dominate the same way I did throughout the rest of my playing years, but I had fun, worked hard, and learned. I had some highlights here and there. I made great friends. I got to play those two years, and we won two Graffiti Bowl championships. The most important thing that happened to me at that time was I made a life-altering change. I became a Christian and dedicated my life to helping people through ministry. Going into my second year at MJC, I met someone between practices who invited me to church. That interaction forever changed the trajectory of my life. Now I can look back and see that I was the lemon being made into lemonade.

I saw JUCO football as a stepping stone to being the next Warrick Dunn, but instead, it was the first step in giving my life purpose past any temporal physical talent. Now I spend all of my time listening and caring for people in all areas of their life. I quit football for a day. People who cared about me brought me back, leading to a forever change in my life.

Don’t give up.