So it begins...

My nerves were just a shaking when I said goodbye to my dad and entered the airport. That was the last person I had seen from my home town. And I knew it was the last one I was going to see for awhile. As I was boarding the plane I felt this weight being lifted off my chest a feeling I haven't felt for quite sometime. For the first time in a very long time I felt relaxed, calm, and most of all free. Free from every sort of drama and stress that haunted me in the past. I knew that once that plane took off everything that was bothering me was left in that airport. I must say I was so excited being on the plane for the first time and of course football was on the tv which got me even more excited. And then a person next to me was a whether man from the weather network and then he too was talking about football and asking me all sorts of questions. When we landed i said goodbye to Chris the weather man and found Nate waiting for me in the airport. I was already pumped because i knew camp started the very next day. I woke up early in the morning and left to get my equipment boy was i excited to wear pads again.

First practice went great even though it was raining, got the nerves out of the way and did what i do best...play football. I met the future QB for the school and he's a real great guy, already had an agreement between the two of us that we'd work hard and get a chemistry with each other so when the time does come for him to start we won't be off a beat. But of course things can't always be smooth sailing. Even though i was playing good my ankle started to give out more and more as i participated in more and more practices. I decided to take a day off hoping the swelling would go back down and i'd be able to plant again.

The next day i was determined to practice no matter how much it hurt boy was that a mistake. I caught a pass while trying to stay in bounds and as i was going down for the ball i was hit out of bounds and slammed into the bench which hit my bad ankle. Even though i was in horrible pain i decided i was going to continue practice and fight for a spot. The next play i ran a post and beat one of there best corners. I figured if i can still play at least a high level then i should keep practicing. By the time we got to special teams near the end of practice i could barely run on my ankle and once the coach told me, ME of all people to get up to speed faster i knew i wasn't able to practice in this much pain anymore.

That night i tried icing it several times and taking advil but the pain was so horrific that i couldn't sleep at all that night. I went to the trainer right away because the swelling got so bad over night and i could barely walk on it. He took me to the hospital thinking it could of been broken but the xrays came out negative. But there was some ligament damage and i partially tore some of the ligaments in my ankle. You would think at this point going through all that training i would be broken. But my spirits were extremely high because i was not out for the whole season and there was a very good chance i'd only miss a couple games. Now the only thing left to do was talk to the coach. Not expecting how he'd feel, i went down to the lunch hall knowing the coach was there. To be honest i've never seen someones face go so emotionless and so pale so fast. He looked at me and the receivers coach whispered something in his ear probably telling him what had happened and the only words i saw come out of his mouth was noooooo while shaking his head. I came up to him and he was really upset and was asking what happened and what was wrong, and how long i'd be out for. He was very concerned and said hopefully we can get you back as soon as possible and we hope we dont lose you for the rest of the season. That made me feel so comfortable knowing that the coach was supporting me. Not only that but throughout the whole day of me going through all of this my trainer jay was extremely supportive and was already working to find a way to get me better faster. Talking to him definitely kept my spirts very high, and i will always be very grateful for that. He's always been there for me and i'm pretty sure he sent me a hundred texts today. Even though camp isn't going exactly the way i planned i must say at least it wasn't a concussion and at least i'm not out for the rest of the season. Both are extremely positive points for me because i can still play and i can still get experience by watching film and learning the plays. Even though it is a long long walk on crutches i still get there 5 minutes early with my playbook ready to go as if i were able to practice. For the next couple weeks i'll be doing rehab like crazy hopefully aiming for the third game of the season. I'll definitely be writing more blogs to tell you about my progress.