Illini Love Football

For years, by middle son Dave has been telling me that he is going to be professional football player. Having never put on a set of pads, I usually told him he might want to try it out before committing to the career path.

Both Dave and Jake have played flag football in AZ for the school team. This year we finally relented and signed them up for Tackle Football. I was amazed at the program here in Roscoe. Football is a religion to people around here and I am on the path to be converted.

Dave is #57. He played defensive end and started for the entire season even though it was his first year. Here are a series of pictures of him making a tackle. I was a league volunteer photographer.

You might say I am living vicariously through my sons. Yes, I was deprived and never played football when I was a kid. I always wanted too and never took the opportunity.

David is playing for the Roscoe Rockton Hawks. He is the starting right defensive end. He loves to hit people and having a constructive place for him to act out his aggression has made our home a more peaceful place. Dave's team made the playoffs and was 4th place in his league of 20 teams.

Jake plays both Offense and Defense. He is the Right Guard on Offense and a Linebacker on Defense. There were many games where he played every down for a whole quarter and never got a break. He was in the best shape of his life.

Here is a picture of him tackling the ball carrier while playing linebacker.

Jake did not like playing the line. It was boring and he had a hard time remembering what to do on the plays. The coaches made him play a lot when they had a fast linebacker who was penetrating the line. You can see from this picture how small he was compared to the other linemen. Jake was fast and strong.

The Video below shows him taking out a linebacker that has been penetrating the line and sacking the QB.

The coaches told Jake to focus on the one Linebacker and push him back to the goal line 25 yards away.

He did his job and pushed the linebacker all the way back to the line. He frustrated the guy so much that after a play where Jake fell down he pushed him back down while Jake was getting up. Luckily, the Ref saw it and awarded Jake's team a 1st down and 15 yards.

Jake was known as the tight shirt geek boy because his Jersey was too tight and he is taking High School Math in 8th grade. It is a loving nickname his team mates gave him. They are having a blast and will remember these times with fond memories. When they complain about the 2 hours practices or the time commitement I tell them that I would love to switch places with them.

When they get tired of my lectures, I just tell them it is my God given right to give them unwanted advice.