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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nA 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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I have always been the little guy on the field but never let it set me back. I lived by the quote, \u201chard work beats talent when talent doesn\u2019t work hard.\u201d I was often chosen as a team captain from youth football to high school. I wasn\u2019t loud and vocal; I just worked hard. But the JUCO experience was much different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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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\u2019ll 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\u2019re welcome to keep participating, hoping for a spot to open for us. I felt like the lemon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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That day was Aug 9, 2007. I know the date because it was my mother\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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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\u2019t participate because I wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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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\u2019t let me quit on myself. I returned to practice the next day and earned my pads a few days after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t give up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes, we don\u2019t realize we\u2019re 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 …<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/anthonykgoodwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mjc.jpg\")
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