Smith 1

Anthony Smith Steffen Guenzel ENC 1101-0011 9/19/13

4 inches short on 4th down Football is the best thing that has ever happened in my life. Playing the sport has brought me fame and success, painful endings, and lifetime friendships and memories. Being introduced to football at the very young age of 6 years old by my father left an imprint on my heart toward what sport I wanted to play and craft my skills in for the rest of my childhood. Ever since my father told me he passed up a shot at the NFL to start a family and raise me with my mother, Ive always wanted to make him proud through playing football. My father began playing football at the same age as myself, went to play high school football at Stranahan high school, and played college football at Brown University. Fortunately I had an experienced father who could coach me on how to improve my skills on and off the football field. I joined my first football team with the Plantation Wildcats and started at running back. I was gifted with outstanding speed throughout my entire childhood and decided to play a position that I could use it to my advantage. My first 4 years playing for the Wildcats, we finished with a 7-3 record. Each season I ran for at least 4 touchdowns. After never being able to get pass the 8 win mark I began to lose my passion for the game of football going into my final season with the Wildcats. It was then, during my 5th and final season with the Wildcats that we went on to the playoffs and defeated a team that had won 27 games in a row to make it to the Super Bowl. My first and last little league championship game against the Weston Warriors would be an unforgettable one. In that game we had 3 touchdowns called back because of penalties called by

Smith 2

referees that happened to be from the Weston area and had kids who played for a younger Weston Warrior football team. The final of that game resulted in a 13- 6 loss for us. We were penalized 8 different times in critical situations and they had 1 five yard penalty for being offside. After that 9-1 football season my ambition for the game of football had been restored and the experience only made me work harder to achieve the goal of first winning a championship and secondly make it to the NFL. At the end of my little league career I accumulated many different awards such as an MVP award, most outstanding offensive player, and also an all-star game appearance. These awards just exhibited how the hard work and extra hours of practice contributed to my performance I had on the field. Since there was no contact football in middle school, I had to play flag football for the Seminole Panthers. On that team I played both ways, on offense as running back, and on defense I was the captain making play calls at the middle linebacker position. The 3 year span from 6th to 8th grade playing football at Seminole wasnt very successful for us although I had a great 3 seasons making big plays in just about every game I played. Even though we finished 5-5 every season losing to the same teams every year, my talent on the field did not go unnoticed. I had high school coaches watching me left and right at just about every game I played. One day a coach by the name of Lee Martin came up and talked to me about potentially playing football at Saint Thomas Aquinas high school which is one of the most prestigious high schools in the country academically and athletically. This opportunity was one I couldnt pass up, especially since my Mother demanded I attend a private high school. I decided to take the entrance exam at Saint Thomas, I passed, and began my journey at a school with more alumni in the NFL than any other high school including 2 hall of famers.

Smith 3

My freshman year playing football at Saint Thomas I played running back on the Freshman team and suffered a back injury that made me sit out half of my freshman season and when I returned I had to play a different position because the starting job at running back had already been solidified by a different player. People expected me to give up on football then and there because they felt as if I couldnt play anywhere else on such a talented roster like Saint Thomas. This is when my father became a huge part of my football career because I decided to switch to the same position he played his entire life at cornerback. Cornerback is known to be the 2nd hardest position to play after quarterback because you have to change direction quickly while running backwards the entire time. My father then became my literacy sponsor teaching me how to improve my back paddling skills, changing direction more efficiently, and how to high point a football in midair as well as many other tactics. My sophomore year I played on the JV team and had an extremely successful year including 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery I returned for a touchdown for 98 yards! At the end of my JV year I had accomplished a feat I had never done before, go undefeated (10-0) with my football team. After the JV season I was moved up to the Varsity practice squad and got to dress out for playoff games. Working against the starting receivers really elevated my game to another level and at the end of the year, the Varsity squad were undefeated national and state champions with a 15-0 record. Going into my junior, year I worked all summer doing drills with my Dad and some of the senior starters on Varsity at my new position. After putting in so many hours of hard work and performing well in training camp, I still couldnt win the starting job on varsity. For the first time in my life I didnt start at my position and the coaches reasoning for it? I was too small to compete with the varsity caliber players. I had never taken more offense to a coachs comment than that because I knew I had out worked many of the guys who are starters at different

Smith 4

positions on the team and still got denied the playing time I thought I deserved. With that being said, I decided I would get on the field anyway I could, so I played special teams. In practice I blocked at least one kick every day in practice but was told the same thing, I was too small. At the end of the only year Ive never started, Saint Thomas had lost its first game in 2 years and finished 11-3 without winning a division title which was a huge disappointment we would try to avoid at all costs next year. Now my senior year comes around and I felt that it was my time to shine on varsity. I was wrong. I broke my middle finger the 2nd day of camp and couldnt play for the first 3 weeks of camp. Although when I did come back, I once again made an impact on special teams and earned a starting job on all the special teams and also became the special teams captain. But the main goal this season was to earn the starting job at cornerback, which I did not 100% succeed at doing. Instead, I played in a 50 50 rotation with another player. The season begins and we had many people doubting us because of last years failure. We began the season 3-2 and everyone had thrown us out of the equation saying we would not have a shot at the championship. We ignored it as a team and just kept playing. Throughout my senior season, I had great success. I had one interception, 3 blocked kicks, and multiple tackles. The most memorable game for me had to be the semi-final playoff game against the number 1 team in the nation in Bradenton Manatee. Bradenton averaged over 50 points a game and didnt allow more than 14 points to opponents. We were now 11-2 and were not looking to repeat last years failure. They came into our stadium and lost 35-18 and everyone was back on our bandwagon. In that game I blocked one kick, and had 2 tackles. The next day I wore my team football shirt and I have never had some many people come up to me in one day telling me how great our team was after not believing in us after the first 5 games of the season.

Smith 5

The day before the state championship game I received text messages from my father and my coaches from previous teams Ive played for telling me to remain calm when Im out there and to do what Ive been coached to do since day one. The most meaningful thing my father said to me was Well, youve done something I never could do by playing in the state championship game, now all you have to do is win it. At that point I felt as if I was beginning to live up to my fathers standards as a football player by doing something he could never do. My coach also told me I would be starting that game as well and not sharing playing time. I played outstanding in that game and recorded 4 tackles and almost had an interception. Finally, I was a champion. After countless hours of hard work, setbacks, and failed seasons. I had finally won and it was and still is the best memory Ive ever had to this day. The next step was to decide if I was going to play in college. After the season I spoke with a bunch of smaller schools around the country about playing football for them. But I didnt want to attend a college where it would be nothing besides playing football and a boring school I wouldnt enjoy attending. I wanted to attend a winning school I could play for and also enjoy going to school at the same time. Every time a division 1 school would come to speak to another player, I would always question why I am never offered to play for them. Every D-1 coach said the same thing, I was about 4 inches too short to compete at that level. Hearing that from every coach was disheartening to me but I still believed I could compete. So I decided to walk on to a school I thought I could have a shot at playing with that also met my standards at UCF. After my first week at UCF I found out that I couldnt even try out for the team because my school schedule conflicted with the football schedule. I see it as just another setback and Ill try again my sophomore year. In the meantime, Ill be playing intramural football to keep my skills in check.

Smith 6

Looking back on my journey, I would have never imagined how much the game of football would matter to me. I went from being a 10 year old kid who was about to give up on the sport because I was tired of failing, to being a 1-time national and 2-time state champion playing on a great intramural team in college. I dont think I would have ever made it to the stage Im at right now if it werent for my father pushing me at every practice and every game, and also for the people that doubted my ability which made me work even harder than before. The game of football has changed my life in the sense of meeting many famous people, making new friends, traveling places Ive never been before, and also changing my mindset on peoples opinions learning that I control my own destiny, not other people opinions. Whether I come up 4 inches short on my fourth shot at playing on a higher level of football is still to be determined. But even if I dont make it, I believe Ive had an amazing run and have scored countless times on completing many lifelong goals.