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KLHJ2 · 04-08-2009, 10:50 AM

I had a gift early on and it was evident playing with the boys on the sandlot. I never lived in a place with a POP Warner league and I never went to a Middle School that had a team. Sad to say I did not get to play organized football until the 8th grade.

Now I know that some people will say that 8th grade is Middle School, but I beg to differ. 8th grade in the state of Oklahoma is Junior High school (7th, 8th, and 9th grade). The one year that I lived there I went to Tomlinson Junior High School and I played DE on the JV squad. Considering that my body type was of a WR many of you might think that this is odd, well, so did I. Since I had never played organized football I did not fully get the terminology. When we were in offensive practice I thought it was defensive and vice versa. So when they asked for backs I went and practiced with the running backs when I meant to practice with the DB's. When they asked for ends I went to practice with the DE's instead of the Split Ends AKA WR's. Needless to say I was clueless especially when I was asked to line up in a 3 point stance.

My D Line coach put me on the right side in drills and fell in love with my speed off of the edge. He did not let me leave the defensive line after that so I was stuck there the entire time I played there. I racked up 9 sacks in 4 games in a division that primarily ran the ball out of the I formation. I would get murdered against the run though. Don't get me wrong I was a sure tackler, but I would always get knocked back a few feet before I made the stop.

In the middle of the season my step dad got out of the Army and we moved back to MD where once again I went to a middle school with no football team. The following summer we moved again to Virginia. The rest of the story is meant for another day. I will leave you with this. In highschool I played WR/DB and not on the D-line. Playing in Oklahoma at least made me a bit smarter.

Edit: The above post was in the beginning. The following link was near the end.

http://www.thewarpath.net/parking-lo...tml#post375314

The good stuff and the great times were in the middle, yet to be posted.

04-08-2009, 10:50 AM	#12
KLHJ2 Inactive Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: DC Metro Area Age: 47 Posts: 5,829	Re: Tell Us About Your Playing Days I had a gift early on and it was evident playing with the boys on the sandlot. I never lived in a place with a POP Warner league and I never went to a Middle School that had a team. Sad to say I did not get to play organized football until the 8th grade. Now I know that some people will say that 8th grade is Middle School, but I beg to differ. 8th grade in the state of Oklahoma is Junior High school (7th, 8th, and 9th grade). The one year that I lived there I went to Tomlinson Junior High School and I played DE on the JV squad. Considering that my body type was of a WR many of you might think that this is odd, well, so did I. Since I had never played organized football I did not fully get the terminology. When we were in offensive practice I thought it was defensive and vice versa. So when they asked for backs I went and practiced with the running backs when I meant to practice with the DB's. When they asked for ends I went to practice with the DE's instead of the Split Ends AKA WR's. Needless to say I was clueless especially when I was asked to line up in a 3 point stance. My D Line coach put me on the right side in drills and fell in love with my speed off of the edge. He did not let me leave the defensive line after that so I was stuck there the entire time I played there. I racked up 9 sacks in 4 games in a division that primarily ran the ball out of the I formation. I would get murdered against the run though. Don't get me wrong I was a sure tackler, but I would always get knocked back a few feet before I made the stop. In the middle of the season my step dad got out of the Army and we moved back to MD where once again I went to a middle school with no football team. The following summer we moved again to Virginia. The rest of the story is meant for another day. I will leave you with this. In highschool I played WR/DB and not on the D-line. Playing in Oklahoma at least made me a bit smarter. Edit: The above post was in the beginning. The following link was near the end. http://www.thewarpath.net/parking-lo...tml#post375314 The good stuff and the great times were in the middle, yet to be posted. Last edited by KLHJ2; 04-08-2009 at 12:23 PM.