Catching up with Kehl Vol. IV

“Why I play the game…

I’ve been asked that question countless times throughout my life, and for the most part, the response has been the same – “Why did you chose football?” would be asked, “I think football chose me” would be my reply.  From the earliest age I just had this inner urge to chase things and tackle them: pillows, people, dogs, you name it.  It didn’t hurt that I had 4 older brothers either, or that at a young age they used me as a tackling dummy.  Consequently, my body became both used to and dependent on good ol’ fashioned physicality.  When I learned there was actually a game that embodied this lifestyle – man, my life was set! I started playing organized tackle football when I was 8, and it’s been a fast climb to the top ever since that first day as a gremlin.  Middle school, high school, and even in college – my love for and dependence on the game just grew and grew. Although, in high school, and greatly more so at BYU, I began to play from a different place; motivated by a different cause.  Early on, we just wanted to win…wanted to win because losing sucks.  Later though, winning started to stand for so much more.  At Brighton, I had school pride, I grew up a Bengal fan, I knew the tradition, I was pumped every time I came out of that tunnel, music of “Welcome to the Jungle” blaring in the cool Friday night air – something I wanted to do as I had grown up watching my brothers do the same.  Every day I practiced and played the game with the same guys I had been best friends with since 1^st grade – and we played for each other more than we did for ourselves.  We wanted to win – because we didn’t want to let our buddy down, or the guy that came before us, or would come after us.  Then I got to BYU…and everything changed.

Bronco had taken a game we loved, a battle we grew up on – and transformed it into perhaps (don’t miss the perhaps) the greatest Banner of BYU.  I say Banner, because that is what we are, or what we try to be.  Yeah, we want to win because losing still sucks.  But at BYU, there is so much more.  We want to win, but more than that - we just want to play well…more than that – we want to play our best…and then, winning will usually follow.  At BYU, I played for my family, for my brothers on my team, my coaches, for the fans…but most of all – I played for that Y on my helmet.  Man, I sit here and get goose bumps just thinking about that Y…what it stands for…and most of all, how truly honored I felt to carry it to battle every Saturday in the fall – and more importantly, every day of my life.  Tradition…Spirit…Honor…those aren’t just catchy phrase words, or some gimmick Bronco came up with to get people excited about some football team.  It’s a way of life…football just happens to be what we are good at, and how we try to contribute to the Banner of that much greater message.

Like I said, the NFL is so very very different, for me at least.  I struggled in Mini camp and I struggled in training camp. For the NFL, the Giants have good team chemistry, which is why they did what they did last year in the playoffs, and played one of the greatest Super Bowls ever.  Being with those same players, those same champions, and that winning effort was really cool.  I still remember walking out to practice the very first time at training camp and thinking – “Wow, these are the defending champs, and I’m right here with em.” (that feeling of awe soon ended, as I was cussed at and told to hurry up and get in line to stretch)  Amid the fulfillment of making it to the NFL, the champs at that – I felt alone then, and I still feel alone today, on October 8^th.  I have never been one to quit – but there were several days in camp that found me asking myself if this was really worth it.  Yeah, the money is great – but it isn’t worth being cussed at daily, it isn’t worth being surrounded by debauchery, overwhelmed by vulgarity and immorality, and it certainly isn’t worth missing church so many Sundays.  If I was going to keep doing this – I desperately had to find that greater purpose, that banner in the sky to maintain, uphold, and battle so very hard to represent and play for.  Ironic enough, it was right there in Albany at training camp that I found it.”

The greater purpose…

…to be continued