Get to the ball
When I played football in college, everyone had to hustle. On defense, all 11 players had to run to the football no matter where the ball ended up. In practice, you had to run to the person that had the ball, and everyone had to chop their feet as we surrounded the ball carrier until the coach was satisfied and then he would blow the whistle. I can remember a play where I rushed the passer, the pass play was 40 yards downfield, and it was an incompletion and I got yelled at for being late at getting to the ball.
Now, I watch high school kids, college kids, and of course, professionals. It's very strange how if the play is even a few yards away from a defensive player, if it isn't directly in the person's area, they DONT EVEN TRY to make the tackle. The players literally jog, walk-run to the ball.
We weren't allowed to walk anywhere, not anywhere on the field. As soon as you crossed the white line, you were running everywhere.
Now, everybody is too damn cool to hustle. Wow, man, what's wrong with that guy? Not cool to bust your ass, be exhausted, be bloody, and spent. Nah, man, we have to make sure the arm sleeves and the visors and the towel hanging out the back of the pants and all of that bullshit is just right. Make sure to have the multicolored mouthpiece and the gloves that are like stickum and have cute little designs on them. ( If you haven't read "About Three Bricks Shy of a Load" by Roy Blount, get it. It is the inside story of the Steelers in the early 1970s. Now, those guys were men.) Totally fake and has nothing to do with how you play. Then you walk around and get your ass beat. But damn, you looked so good on the feed. You know all of that is a sign that the apocalypse is upon us, right? All trickling down from me me me society. Players today are so big, so strong, and so fast, but they are not the same as even 10 years ago. Seen the Pro Bowl lately? It's touch football. Don't want to hurt nobody, ok buddy? Watch games from the '70s, '80s, and even the '90s. Players aren't as talented as they are now, but damn, were they some MEN.
My college coaches would see you dog it ONE TIME and you would never get back onto the field or if you did it enough, they would make life so miserable for you that you would quit and they would take your scholarship. OH! I almost forgot- first you'd have to get up and run at 4am. "four o'clock train" is what we called it.
It is all about effort, about trying as hard as you can. You only have so many plays in your life, why would you waste any of them? Nobody wants to try too hard because they may miss or get juked out. OH, YOU BROKE HIS ANKLE, or some stupid shit like that.
I don't know what the answer is to all those weak ass shit, but I know one thing:
We need some more DAWWWGS
