A Season to Remember

When it was all said and done, and the final whistle had blown, the only thing that went through my mind Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, was that this was the last time that I was ever going to be in a football uniform for the Emory & Henry Wasps.

As the season was coming to a close, it was hard to say that I didn’t think about this moment before it happened; it has played in my head thousands of times. As I looked at the clock and saw the final seconds count down, tears ran down my face. It seemed like it was just yesterday when I came to Emory as a freshman who really didn’t know what was to come out of this football program but wanting to be a part of something very special.

And that has happened. As the years went by and I was part of a team that was rebuilding and winning – claiming the most wins this season since 2000 – a sense of accomplishment and pride set in. As every season begins, you have one main goal and that is to win the conference championship. And that seemed very possible this year. But losses to very good teams in the conference made us realize that those dreams would not come true.

Still, after our third loss of the season, my fellow teammates and I knew that we could not lay down and give up; we had worked too hard to not claim some success. So we set out to go 7-3 for the year, improving by one win our record from last year. We also continued to build a strong foundation and set a new standard for the program and the players of the future.

Although we did not win the conference, our hard work in the gym and on the field paid off. We gained unity as a team and the strong bonds of friendship that come from knowing that we are going through the same thing together. Also, there were the wildly supportive fans, the E&H traditions and Fred Selfe Stadium.

Those experiences – more than the victories – are the hardest things to leave behind and the things that I will miss most about E&H football.