Proud Papa

There about a million things about my son that make me proud. Not proud in a "my son is better than your's" way, more of a "my son is far better than your's and it isn't even close" kinda way. I like him. He's great. And now, I will use all the powers of all the Internets to toot his proverbial horn (was there really a proverb about a tooted horn?).

My 10-year old son's dream is to play professional football. It is the same dream a lot of kids have. Along with firemen and police officers, professional athletes are the pinnacle of what most young boys hope to become. Last year (after making him endure 3 seasons of soccer first), my wife and I agreed to let Wes finally launch into football. We were stunned. He is great. He isn't just good, or even really good. He is great. He is a natural athlete and a gifted football player. He played half back for his team last season and averaged over 12 yards per carry, including a 45-yard run on his first carry in his first game and a 60-yard kickoff return to setup the winning touchdown in their last game of the year. It was exciting to say the least. Last season ended far too quickly and the spring and summer have been grueling waiting for season 2 to begin. Last week (after 2 weeks of team drills and practice) his new coach held tryouts for various skill positions on the team and Wes was once again named the team's starting half back. That night after practice was emotional for all of us. He is working so hard to achieve his goals and the encouragement we all felt was overwhelming. You see, he didn't ask to try out for half back. I didn't whisper in the coach’s ear about his success from last season and this coach had never seen him play. His hustle just paid off.

I don't know what the future will hold for Wes. God could have anything in store for him and in the end that's all I really care about. But I have no reason to believe that if Wes continues to work this hard and stay this committed that he won't make it all the way to the NFL. But regardless of his outcome, this past week my son learned a major lesson about hard work and what it means to earn something. Nothing could make me prouder.