My first year of teaching I coached high school football. Several of the players who were a part of my position group were everything you looked for in an athlete: hard worker, competitive, successful on the field, good students. But, they stopped playing after 9th grade. Why? They had been playing tackle football since 4th grade and were burned out. After a football career of 6 years, they had had enough.  I started playing tackle football as soon as it was available where I grew up: 8th grade. I completed my career… Read More