Racing Toward a New Future

    I come from a football family. If you come from one too, you know what I mean. NFL games on TV, Friday nights at the high school stadium—we never missed a game. My older brother, Elijah, and I started playing when we were little.

    In fact, football was my life. I never even thought about doing anything else. By the time I was in middle school, I had my whole career planned out. I wanted to play in the NFL.

    Then the chest pain started.

    I was in sixth grade. I was playing basketball with my younger brother Levi. We had been running hard, so I wasn’t too worried. But the pain kept getting worse. 

    Soon I started getting out of breath just climbing the stairs. My parents took me to the doctor. That doctor sent me to a cardiologist. 

    Thinking that something could be wrong with my heart was scary. What if I was really sick? What if I needed surgery? 

    But my biggest question was: How will this affect my plans for a football career?

    I come from a football family. If you do too, you know what I mean. NFL games on TV. Friday nights at the high school stadium. We never missed a game. I started playing when I was little. My older brother did too.

    Football was my life. I never thought about doing anything else. By middle school, I had my career planned out. I wanted to play in the NFL.

    Then the chest pain started.

    I was in sixth grade. I was playing basketball with my little brother Levi. We had been running hard, so I wasn’t too worried. But the pain got worse.

    Soon I was getting out of breath just climbing the stairs. I went to see a doctor. That doctor sent me to a cardiologist.

    A heart problem? That was a scary thought. What if I was really sick? What if I needed surgery?

    But my biggest question was: How will this affect my football plans?

    I come from a football family. If you come from one too, you understand what I mean: NFL games on TV, Friday nights at the high school stadium, never missing a game. My older brother, Elijah, and I started playing when we were little.

    In fact, football was my life. I never even imagined doing anything else. By the time I was in middle school, I had my career planned out. I wanted to play in the NFL.

    Then, in sixth grade, I began having chest pains.

    I had been running hard, playing basketball with my younger brother Levi, so I wasn’t especially concerned—but the pain got worse.

    Before long, I started getting out of breath just climbing the stairs. My parents took me to one doctor, who in turn sent me to another—a cardiologist.

    The possibility that something could be wrong with my heart was frightening. What if I had a serious illness or needed surgery?

    Most of all, I worried about how my plans for a football career might be affected.

    I’ve been running track for three years now. It’s going well. I’ve broken a few school records. I even got to run in the Junior Olympics in 2021. It felt amazing to be running with the best young athletes in the country. Now I hope to go to the Olympics someday. 

    Five years ago, I couldn’t have imagined my life off the football field. It would have been so easy to give up once I lost that dream. 

    But losing football actually helped me open my mind to other activities. In addition to track, I joined marching band and chorus. 

    I’ve learned that life will surprise you. You can’t always control what happens, but you aren’t powerless. The real power comes in picking yourself up and making new plans when the ones you had don’t work out.

    There’s always a second chance. I’m really glad I found mine. 

    I’ve been running track for three years now. It’s going well. I’ve broken some school records. In 2021, I ran in the Junior Olympics. It felt great to be running with the best young athletes in the country. I hope to go to the Olympics one day.

    Five years ago, I couldn’t have pictured my life off the football field. Losing that dream was hard. I could have given up.

    Instead, I tried new things. I didn’t just run track. I joined marching band and chorus too.

    I’ve learned that life will surprise you. You can’t always control what happens. But you’re not powerless. You can make new plans when the first ones don’t work out. You can try again. That’s real power.

    There’s always a second chance. I’m glad I found mine.

    In the three years that I’ve been running track, I’ve broken a few school records—and in 2021, I even got to compete in the Junior Olympics. Running with the best young athletes in the country was an incredible experience. Now I hope to go to the Olympics someday.

    Five years ago, I couldn’t have imagined my life off the football field. It would have been really easy to give up after I lost that dream.

    But losing football actually encouraged me to consider other activities. In addition to track, I joined marching band and chorus.

    I’ve learned that life will surprise you, and you can’t always control what happens—but you aren’t powerless. The real power comes in picking yourself up and making new plans when your original ones don’t work out.

    There’s always a second chance. I’m really glad I found mine.