A New Me

About two years ago my son was asked to play football. He tried it for a while but then I noticed the excitement was leaving from him. It even got to the point where when I said time for practice, he would have tummy pains and fall asleep. By the time my cousin got to my home, my son would be knocked out. This went on for many practice days. Heck one day wasn't even a practice day and I told him it was time to get ready for football practice. He grabbed his little tummy and curled up on the couch and went to sleep. My older son and I commenced to watching two movies with popcorn uninterrupted. Yeah. I know we were wrong for that. We still laugh about that til this day.

See, I knew that there wasn't anything wrong with my son. He had just lost interest for some reason. I asked him what had happened. He simply said, "I don't like when the coaches yell at me." Hmm. At that time he was only 5. I didn't want organized sports to be a bad experience for him. We pulled him from the team and guess what? No more tummy aches. No more all of a sudden naps. No more interrupted movies.

This year a co-worker asked if I would be interested in my son attending the Marvin Lewis Camp. My first thought was, this boy about to take a serious nap. I recruited a friend who loves football to take my son the first day. I was concerned about the outcome. When my son comes home he goes straight to his brother's room and starts talking about his experience. My friend Mike comes in the house and excitedly yells out "He loves football now!" Does he?

The camp was for 3 days and for 3 days my son was ready. One morning he's laying across the bed and he has on his camp shirt and he's looking like he's ready to go. Camp was at 6pm, it was 10a.m. I looked at his very long legs and noticed how tall he was getting and I said to him, "I thought you didn't like football." My son, without mising a beat said, "Mom, this is the new me."

Not only did he finish the camp but he also attended the Anthony Munoz camp and had the nerve to inquire about the A.J. Green camp. Hold up now!!!!

Since birth my mom has always stated that my son would play professional football for the Seahawks. She has his number picked out and everything. One day, last year, at Walgreens a stranger said to me, "Do you know that you are standing next to a professional football player?" As I looked around he stated, "He's right there beside you." I looked over and it was my son. The man put money in my hand and walked away.

A new me? Just maybe my son is already walking into the path that has been predestined for him. Whether he plays organized football or attends another camp is not important to me.I am just glad that he overcame his dislike of football. He's even asked about going to the camps next summer.

My older son has played basketball since kindergarten and is now going into his 3rd year of college, he plays at the Division II level. I guess if football becomes a part of this family you'll be seeing a "new me" also.