A Football Career that Shouldn't have Happened
If I were to tell you that someone played college football with only playing 1 down of varsity you could believe it but may laugh at it. What if I were to tell you that he played that one down as a lineman and played college as a safety? Then you would probably laugh and say yeah right that would never happen. But oh wait it has.
John Sharp is from Frisco, Texas. His journey is not what many people think of when it comes to a college athlete. Going in to High School he was a lineman that knew what to do but was undersized. About 5 weeks into the year he got sick and developed a cough that distracted the whole school. He missed his entire freshman year of football and his whole first semester at school.
After his first year he came back still a lineman and did what he did. When it came to the skill parts of the position he had it down. Nobody was better then him. Footwork check. Hand work check. Size nope. Speed nope. Finally it came to his senior year. he was finally on varsity but still undersized for the position he played. Finally on senior night he was able to go in. he played one down at the end of the game. He did it it was his time he did what he was suppose to do and the play happened. that was it. Back then i thought to my self hey at least he finished what he started.
The next two weeks after that were the playoffs. He played in two of the biggest football stadiums that a high schooler can play in in Texas and maybe in the country his last two games. (Allen High School Stadium, and Cowboys Stadium). Going to the last game at Cowboys stadium was crazy. His team wore all white, the other team wore all black. kinda looked like good versus evil. The game didn't go his way and they lost. I cant remember the score but i do know it was not pretty.
Finally this chapter of football had closed in his life. Time to be a regular student and finish up and decide where he wanted to go to college. One of the schools he was looking at was Ouachita Baptist a school in Arkansas that unless you are from there or know someone that went there you would miss. It is in a little town called Arkadelphia at the edge of the Ouachita Mountains in south-west Arkansas.
John, some of his buddies and I decided to go on a visit together. Me personally it wasn't my cup of tea. But for John it was perfect. He loved the campus, loved that his friends wanted to go their too. On top of that, they had a fairly good football team. While on campus he talked to the head coach. They told him that he could walk-on and play even though he didn't play that much in high school. he was thrilled! The drive back he could not stop talking about it.
Finally, they sent him his workouts for the summer. They were going to have him be a linebacker. that was a little out of the normal him being a lineman but he thought it was an easy transition. When he got there that was not the case. they moved him to Safety. I remember getting a call and him not knowing how to take it. "A SAFETY?!?! I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO THERE?". But sure enough he worked and worked and he figured out how to play it. The next 2 years had there ups and downs. But he stuck with it. finally earning. His way to be off the scout team and getting some scholarship money. Not much but some. this was going to be his redshirt junior year. He was stoked he was going to finally have a shot. but of course, when he got back to school they moved his position again. it was still a safety but not what he had been doing. he dressed for games but he never played.
Halfway through the season, he decided he had had enough. football wasn't bringing him the same joy it had. It was a stress giver, not a stress reliever. the free time that he had he would sit and get frustrated about why things were happening the way they were. I remember getting a few calls wanting advice and help with what he should do. after many talks with me, our parents, and some close family friends he had made up his mind. after this year he would call it quits. Hang up the cleats and walk away.
At this point of their season they weren't in the chase for the championship and who knows what would happen with the postseason. but sure enough, it came down to the final game of the season. The Battle of the Ravine. The biggest rivalry in Division 2 in any sport, the shortest road trip in the country. The two schools only being separated by a 2 lane highway. If they won the got it. They would win the conference and beat the rival. that win alone means that your season was a good one.
What would you know they won it. The big game they won it. Sadly he didn't play. but at the game they did recognize him as a part of the team. he was part of the captains before the game at the coin toss. that win got them into the playoffs who knows how they will do.
Looking back on Johns football career it is one that shouldn't have happened. I don't say that as a dig at him , but as one saying when everything could have gone his way to help keep playing the game he loves it happened. Not many people get the chance to play at the next level let alone win a championship (which he did twice). Being a part of any team gives you life experience that you will never get anywhere else that spills over into your everyday life whether you know it or not. Watching it unfold the past 10 years has been something as an outside you would call unlikely and improbably. As a brother its something that you want to happen for your younger brother. Getting to watch your younger brother do what he loved for so long was something i will always remember.