October 2nd, 2008. Field 3 on Randall's Island
The game was on the line; it all came down to the last play. We were up against the top team in the league, and were down just a point. The clock was stopped with 2 seconds to left, but we had to go almost the full length of the field. Time to go deep. I stood at the line of scrimmage and waited for the ball to be snapped. I bursted off the line and started sprinting, trying to get behind the defender. I looked up and there was the football sailing towards me. It felt like that ball was in the air for 20 minutes because I could not wait for it to come down. I didn't want a defender to catch up and grab me or the ball, but I just had to sprint underneath the ball and wait. The ball fell perfectly and beautifully in my arms, and all I saw was green grass in front of me. I kept sprinting towards the end zone, held the ball in one hand, and held my other hand in the air in excitement. I got into the end zone and spiked the ball as hard as I could. What followed was absolute mayhem as I ran towards my teammates. They all jumped on me, and crushed me at the bottom of a dog pile. It kind of hurt to have all these kids on top of me, but it also felt so good. All my teammates got off me and, just as I was ready to relax and enjoy the moment, my coached dumped a tub of gatorade on me (a common football celebration). I was freezing cold now and had almost suffocated under the dog pile, but this all made it one of the greatest and happiest moments of my life. And to top it all off, it was my birthday (that's why I remember the exact date). My mom decided it'd be fun to have a little birthday party/win celebration at a pizza place after the game. I had a bunch of my friends around me, I celebrated my birthday, and I had made the greatest and most exciting play of my sports career. I remember every little detail of that last play and even of that flag football game almost 7 years ago. That play will forever be engrained in me for the rest of my lifetime. It was too awesome to ever forget.
The game was on the line; it all came down to the last play. We were up against the top team in the league, and were down just a point. The clock was stopped with 2 seconds to left, but we had to go almost the full length of the field. Time to go deep. I stood at the line of scrimmage and waited for the ball to be snapped. I bursted off the line and started sprinting, trying to get behind the defender. I looked up and there was the football sailing towards me. It felt like that ball was in the air for 20 minutes because I could not wait for it to come down. I didn't want a defender to catch up and grab me or the ball, but I just had to sprint underneath the ball and wait. The ball fell perfectly and beautifully in my arms, and all I saw was green grass in front of me. I kept sprinting towards the end zone, held the ball in one hand, and held my other hand in the air in excitement. I got into the end zone and spiked the ball as hard as I could. What followed was absolute mayhem as I ran towards my teammates. They all jumped on me, and crushed me at the bottom of a dog pile. It kind of hurt to have all these kids on top of me, but it also felt so good. All my teammates got off me and, just as I was ready to relax and enjoy the moment, my coached dumped a tub of gatorade on me (a common football celebration). I was freezing cold now and had almost suffocated under the dog pile, but this all made it one of the greatest and happiest moments of my life. And to top it all off, it was my birthday (that's why I remember the exact date). My mom decided it'd be fun to have a little birthday party/win celebration at a pizza place after the game. I had a bunch of my friends around me, I celebrated my birthday, and I had made the greatest and most exciting play of my sports career. I remember every little detail of that last play and even of that flag football game almost 7 years ago. That play will forever be engrained in me for the rest of my lifetime. It was too awesome to ever forget.