It was senior night, Carson’s last high school football game ever. There was about two minutes left on the clock, and Carson’s team had the ball. The team was gearing up for a game-winning drive. He jogged off the sidelines, wind blowing through the stadium. The crowd was quiet, watching, waiting. Carson lined up to the right of the offensive line. The quarterback barked out the count. He snapped the ball, and Carson surged forward. He faked inside and planted his foot to go out towards the sideline. He turned his head to call for the ball, but it was already in the air.  

Carson reached up to snatch the ball out of the air. But before he could, an opponent safety jumped in front of him to intercept the pass. Carson watched as the other player returned the ball the length of the field for a pick-six.  

“BRODY! WHO ARE YOU THROWING TO!” Carson screamed.  

“You gotta run a better route than that man, you weren’t open,” Brody replied.  

“Then don’t throw me the damn ball,” Carson thought. Opponents and spectators watched and laughed at this interaction. Carson’s intramural flag football team is 0-2 through 2 weeks and has yet to score a point.  

 “Why did I ever decide to play 7 v 7 flag with a bunch of honors kids who have never played organized football?” Carson muttered under his breath as he kicked the grass with his cleat and crossed his arms, pouting like a toddler. Carson has had three concussions, a torn meniscus, and a broken ankle. He had a few small D3 offers leaving high school, and had dreams of walking on at Coastal. Unfortunately, injuries deterred him from his path of playing college football. He reached a point where his love for the game couldn’t outweigh the negatives. Carson’s dad tried to push him in the direction of walking on as much as he could, but Carson simply no longer has the motivation. So, flag football is how he stays in tune with the game of football.