Competition – to be the best you have to beat the best and everyone wants to play against the best teams, the best athletes. It’s about competing. Line them up; nose to nose; best man wins.
Team – football, more so than any sport, is a team game. If 1 of the 11 players makes a mistake all 11 players on the field (the rest of the 50+ on the sideline) are affected negatively. You win together, lose together, fight together, cry together on the gridiron.
Dream – everyone has NFL dreams, it’s what pushes us to be great. Although the slimmest of margins actually achieve their dream everyone wants to have something to look up toward – an ultimate goal of playing at the highest possible level.
Fun – bottom line, football is fun! Suit up with, typically, your best friends on Friday night and virtually go to war. Football is just fun.
Friday Night Lights – jogging onto the field underneath the lights on a Friday night, with the student body cheering you on; it’s kind of a celebrity status. Very few platforms allow students to be recognized by the student body, faculty and community. All the hard work and grind pays off as soon as you jog out onto the field.
Bright Lights – for the potential fame for themselves and fellowship of their communities they represent. They play for their families and for the belief that the sport will give back to them what they’ve given to it.
Success – play because being successful at this sport means they’ve managed to take all of these factors and channel them do to things that the average human being simply cannot.
You play for the glory of winning and the passion for the game.
You play to challenge yourself in a heated competition.
You play for the chance to earn an athletic scholarship to a institution of higher learning.
To transform oneself from a normal, every day person into a competitive and aggressive machine.
It’s an escape from the everyday pressures of school and other situations. All of the focus is simply on the game at hand.
Championships
Prove the haters wrong
The love of preparation
Players play the game, because they dream the game!