Killing Time: Past football experience.

[DcRy82]

Marionequalsgod....wow....ironic... thats where i play ball ahahaha

 

[T.R.U. FIN3]

I started playing football when I was 5. I played for the Lauderhill Green Machine. It was a flag team. I started all 3 years there at QB. I even took us to two championships.

When I turned 8 I started playing for the Plantation Wildcats (PAL). Those were the years. I couldn't play QB anymore because I had a hard time throwing with pads, but now that I think about it, they gave us soemhuge pads to begin with. I switched to DT/DE. I started at DT on every team as I moved up in weight. I was fortunate to contribute to 3 championships there. I made a big sack in the championship game as the team was driving in the 4th quarter to presever a victory. It was the highlight of my career I think. Very Jason Taylor-esque. I was a sack leader one year. Oh, how I loved pop warner.

As soon as I hit high school, I joined the JV team at Plantation High School. I was tired of having to lose weight and monitor it every year before every game to meet the requirement. However, I was too small for DT in high school. 5'8" 165 does not cut it. I switched to SS and started there every year that I played in high school. However, I missed my junior year because I failed a physical where the doctors found a heart murmur and a small hole in the side of my heart. They said that I could run and excercise, but if I took a direct shoot to the chest like a crackback (Bua type hit) it would be lights out. I was very disheartening because I started getting letters from schools my sophmore/junior year. I could have been playing in college right now. I am sure I would have been playing corner or running back in college. I guess that would have been ok because by the time I was done with high school I was 215 lbs. and ran a 4.5. Not too shabby. Anywho I had the time of my life in high school. I had plenty of picks, tackle, TD's, fumble recoveries, and tackles.

The only thing I regret is not getting to the championship game. We would dominate Broward County and even Palm Beach when got to them in the playoffs, but always lost to Miami Southridge, Carol City, Miami Northwestern or Miami Central. Lord knows I hated that. We even lost when we had Kevin Beard and Ryan Schneider and that was our best chance at title those 2 years I played with them. But on the contrary, I loved playing at Plantation HS especially when we whooped on St. Thomas, South Plantation and Dillard High.

 

[LarryFinFan]

I played in Pop Warner for 3 years, then in the Jr. high and Sr. High as RB, DB, backup punter and kicker (only had to attempt one FG, but it was good from 24 yards thank God). I then I was a walk-on to Penn State on the scout team for my freshman year, but blew out my left knee and broke my right ankle in spring drills the following year and did not return. I went into the Air Force and played flag ball for three years in the various bases I was stationed at and then played 2 years of semi pro ball...then I coached Little league in Hollywood for a couple of seasons until I got tired of the parents yelling at me. Our league mandated that every kid played at least a quarter of every game and the parents didn't like that...But, I enjoyed playing, coaching and watching ball and still do...I even occasionally watch an AFL game. I kind of enjoyed some of the Spring league games ( can't remember the league, but it was the "He Hate Me" league). I follow the NFL and NCAA only now tho...I still like watching the games...

 

[tay0365]

I played from in my preteens, and in high school. In college, I just played in a league we had, that was made up of many College players, with college non-football players that had a little but of skill, my team ended up winning the league (our team had the least amount of College footall players). I played corner/safety (safety being my favorite position, and one that I started for 2 years in highschool at along with Receiver), WR, and RB.

I played football just like Zack (Hard-nosed, relentless, never say die), that is why he is my favorite player. Where my size hurt me (5'7....150) in highschool, my instincts, and determination helped me get the job done for the 2 years I started in Highschool (4 sacks, 9 ints, and no receiver ever burnt me, and if they caught a ball, they paid for it). They even allowed me to blitz a few times...that was fun. :D

I loved playing football, now I am just forced to the occasional weekend warrior games.

 

[Marino Forever]

I played QB in high school and we won the North Dakota state championship when I was a junior. (Darin Erstad was my favorite receiver- he kicked for Nebraska on their Championship teams of the mid 90s and was the 1st pick of the MLB draft by the Angels. Heard of him?) As a senior I was injured and only got a few sniffs from smaller schools. Played baseball in college but never lost my love for football. I got my elementary ed degree and volunteer coached for a few years then worked my way up to JV assistant/offensive coordinator. The last year I coached our team went 9-0 and was very successful offensively. Had some dreams of coaching at the college level but career changes have impacted that. I currently am coaching high school golf, once a coach, always a coach.

 

[tay0365]

I am also an education major, so when I start teaching, I plan on coaching too. I'm very excited at this experience, my main goal is to get into a good college later in my career coaching WR's or being an offensive coordinator. Maybe one day I will have the chance to coach my beloved Dolphins.....how awesome would that be!!!

That would be awesome, no doubt about that.

 

[Emskirch]

I coach Pee Wee football down here in South Jersey.

Will be going into my third year. 7 and 8 year olds; absolute blast, my first year, I was linebacker coach; last year I was offensive coordinator, what a blast, I ran the Delaware Wing T, to watch an offense look as bad as the Fins did last year to a team that jells together is amazing.

And as another said, these kids love you as a coach, and the personalities are endless, somethings they say and do make you crack up.

If anyone is thinking of coaching, don't ever be afraid, just jump right in, these kids make it a blast!

 

[Regan21286]

I played CB/FS/WR/P during my freshman year but I mostly played the nickel slot cuz I sucked defending running plays. We had a girl on our defensive line which could explain our porous run defense and why CBs are forced to be responsible for stopping RBs. I played just 3 games and got 2 interceptions with 3 tackles. A lotta people including me quit midseason because the coach was a jerk (who incidentally later got fired for beating the pulp out of a kid in the locker room). But it was only the freshman squad and no one really cared about it. I think I was one of the few asians who was on the team and probably because of my height and speed.

After freshman year, I just played casual football in the park or at school after tennis/cross country.

 

[tay0365]

Well,I tried to play football until I completely tore up my ankles,and even now when I run they don't feel the same.

Well sorry to tell you this, it will not get any better, because of the way I played, I did plenty of damage to my body (Including the ankle), and there are days where there is not a part of my body that does not hurt, but luckily it is not a severe pain, and I have learned to get used to it (Ben-Gay is something I buy by the case).

 

[tay0365]

Very Cool!! Ever here of Tony Alva? That's my era!!! I was one of about 10 sponsered skaters back in the very early 80's that put vertical skateboarding on the map in Florida. I was just the lucky one that got picked by Dog Town Skates. The DT boys came to Florida for a contest, and we all hit it off real good. I took them back to my hood and got them ripped out of their minds. A little 13/14 year old won the contest though, his name was Tony Hawk.

Tony Hawks, who's he, did he win anything else after that?

 

[SCall13]

Well sorry to tell you this, it will not get any better, because of the way I played, I did plenty of damage to my body (Including the ankle), and there are days where there is not a part of my body that does not hurt, but luckily it is not a severe pain, and I have learned to get used to it (Ben-Gay is something I buy by the case).

Isn't that the truth. I still have lots of aches and pains. Shoulder, elbow, knees, ankles. Ohhh the concussions. The bursitis. The grass burns. Those were the days. :D

 

[Buddwalk]

I will start it off. :D

I started playing when I was in Middle School. I begged my mom and she finally let me play (Thank God!); unfortunately, our team was called the Jets. How funny is that? There I played a lot of positions; I was a bit bigger than some at the time. (That later changed in HS), so I played center/linebacker. Then my coach finally let me play RB. I did pretty well there and made a few plays.

Once I realized that the city league was a joke I went on to Pop Warner. I played for the Naples Gators. I played TE/DE/LB/SS. I started at TE/DE. We actually won our championship for that division.

I was stoked. After the season ended I was going into my freshman year in High School. I got a letter in the mail from the High School coach inviting me to a meeting with a few other players from the Gators. So I went and they wanted us to switch and play for them. I agreed to play for them, but I should have stayed, because it turned out to be a big mistake. The year I left the Gators went on and won the State Championship. I should have been a part of that!

So anyways, my freshman year I switched to QB/FS. I faired pretty well at QB, it was a new position for me, but I picked up on it. I was more suited for safety, so I played more there.

My freshman year was cut very short. We were up by a large margin so my coach wanted me to get some reps in at QB. So I ran a few successful plays then I decided to scramble as I got tackled my head was knocked back. When I awoke from the tackle I was so out of it and temporarily lost feeling in my legs. I laid there until the paramedics carted me away in the ambulance. I was scared out of my mind, I thank god that I was able to regain feeling. When I got out of the hospital I had to do a few cat scans and rehab. It put me out for the whole year. I had to walk around school with a neck brace. I was bummed.

I did attempt to play again each year, but unfortunately my 5’ 10 160 pound body couldn’t hold up. Through my HS years I had pinched nerves, concussions, and a broken wrist.

The last draw came after my final concussion. My doctor ordered me to stop playing. The hardest part was telling my coaches I can’t play anymore. I was destroyed. They offered for me to stay along and help out with coaching, but I was so depressed. The other coach even offered for me to start Track. I guess I let it get to me too much.

Anyways, I finally got over it and became extremely obsessed with the Miami Dolphins and the NFL in general. So here I am now. :)

I played football as a kid in elementary and all through middle school...my school doesnt have football...but i play at a vo tech school...we went 6-4 this year, I started at SS this year...and was backup rb

 

[tay0365]

Isn't that the truth. I still have lots of aches and pains. Shoulder, elbow, knees, ankles. Ohhh the concussions. The bursitis. The grass burns. Those were the days. :D

Oh yea

 

[MarinoEqualsGod]

I started playing football when I was 5. I played for the Lauderhill Green Machine. It was a flag team. I started all 3 years there at QB. I even took us to two championships.

When I turned 8 I started playing for the Plantation Wildcats (PAL). Those were the years. I couldn't play QB anymore because I had a hard time throwing with pads, but now that I think about it, they gave us soemhuge pads to begin with. I switched to DT/DE. I started at DT on every team as I moved up in weight. I was fortunate to contribute to 3 championships there. I made a big sack in the championship game as the team was driving in the 4th quarter to presever a victory. It was the highlight of my career I think. Very Jason Taylor-esque. I was a sack leader one year. Oh, how I loved pop warner.

As soon as I hit high school, I joined the JV team at Plantation High School. I was tired of having to lose weight and monitor it every year before every game to meet the requirement. However, I was too small for DT in high school. 5'8" 165 does not cut it. I switched to SS and started there every year that I played in high school. However, I missed my junior year because I failed a physical where the doctors found a heart murmur and a small hole in the side of my heart. They said that I could run and excercise, but if I took a direct shoot to the chest like a crackback (Bua type hit) it would be lights out. I was very disheartening because I started getting letters from schools my sophmore/junior year. I could have been playing in college right now. I am sure I would have been playing corner or running back in college. I guess that would have been ok because by the time I was done with high school I was 215 lbs. and ran a 4.5. Not too shabby. Anywho I had the time of my life in high school. I had plenty of picks, tackle, TD's, fumble recoveries, and tackles.

The only thing I regret is not getting to the championship game. We would dominate Broward County and even Palm Beach when got to them in the playoffs, but always lost to Miami Southridge, Carol City, Miami Northwestern or Miami Central. Lord knows I hated that. We even lost when we had Kevin Beard and Ryan Schneider and that was our best chance at title those 2 years I played with them. But on the contrary, I loved playing at Plantation HS especially when we whooped on St. Thomas, South Plantation and Dillard High.

Do you know some of the Dillard players that you played against. My alma mater, Eastern Illinois had a lot of guys from Ft. Lauderdale and Dillard H.S. that played there a couple years ago when i was there. (Fred Miller, Nick Ricks, Andre Raymond just to name a few)

 

[Ozzy]

Dan....I played for the Jets also....probably long before you did though....(that's where my career ended)

I also was a sk8er....I remember we had a huge halfpipe off of Kelly road....(Bayshore, now)

I had an Alva Deck too.....right after my Santa Cruz street skate. :D

Haha, funny you mention Santa Cruz. The DT boys invaded one of their contests, and the only female pretty much out skated the Cruz. It's shown on their 1st movie, DogTown and the Z Boys....

It's cool that you skated though, now we can rap about that next get together.

A friend of mine has an Alva deck from 1980, and it's never been used. I've been trying to get that thing from him for years.

I had the Shogo Kubo decks because he was the one who got me my gig with DogTown. Back then they sent us anything we needed, and gave us decent money, but they never considered the Florida DT Skaters as part of the "gang". That's why you will never see us in their movies.

Back in the day halfpipes were somewhat rare, so if your old enough, you might remember the Holywood Ramp. Pictures of Pro Skaters skating on that ramp were all over Skateboarder Mag. Well, I helped fund, and build that thing. It was a monster, and one of the best transitions I've ever skated. Allan Gelfand, the inventor of the Olly Air, had a picture doing a mean Olly on the cover of Skateboarder Mag one month. Well, that's the Hollywood Ramp on Pines, out west of University Drive.

Probably the most famous Florida ramp is actually still going. It's in Jacksonville at a park call Kona Surf.....