This is a tough article for me to write. Nearly four months ago when I attended the tryout for the football team here at CMU, I had no idea what my future held for me. One thing I didn’t imagine was me quitting. With much embarrassment and disappointment, I make my last update no longer as a member of the football team. I let down my coaches, teammates and friends.

I want to talk about two things. First, just because Mesa is a D2 school athletically doesn’t mean that is easy to play sports here. And second, sports are a beautiful thing.

I don’t know how many times last fall I heard people talking about how bad our football team was, or how anyone could show up and play for the Mavericks.

And I can honestly say that after spending an off-season with the Mavericks, and half of spring ball with them and the new coaching staff, anyone who thinks that playing football at a D2 university is easy, is absolutely wrong.

The time commitment alone is enough to make you think your only job is playing football. And the while I don’t argue that D1 programs may have tougher physical workouts, I would bet money at least three-quarters of the students that attend CMU could not keep up with the football team’s workouts for one day.

I now know that the difference between high school football and college football is the difference between food at the student cafeteria, and food anywhere else. It’s monumental.

I played high school football for just over a year, and I don’t know if I have ever been involved in something as special and unique as high school football. But also spending the spring of my senior year on the track team, I feel that the experience young athletes get through high school athletics are something that cannot be duplicated.

What an athlete in any sport experiences and goes through with his or her teammates, and coaches is something that I know I can’t describe. One of the biggest regrets I’ll hold my whole life is that I didn’t go out for football my freshman year in high school.

The world of sports allow for a place where, even if for just moments, we can forget about what is going on in the world around us. Raw human emotion and gridiron glory come together in a beautiful way for just a few hours under the Friday night lights, or on a Saturday afternoon in the fall. I’ve seen several other players that quit the team and it didn’t seem to affect them that much. But, while my time with the Mavericks was short, it was a great experience that reminded me of the beauty that sports holds. I am grateful for all the hard hits, bruises, and aching body parts.

To quote ESPN, “It’s not crazy, it’s sports.”