Lids, Pads and Maximum Effort

Ever since I started following the NFL on a regular basis, I’ve supported the New England Patriots. They hadn’t won any Super Bowls for several years at that point, but they were the team that was most often aired in the UK around that time, and also there’s no point in supporting a team that you can’t really watch.

I’d only ever watched the NFL on TV and never had any interest in ever playing it. It was only in the summer of 2018 that I found out that my friend Laurence actually played American football in the UK for Darlington Steam. I didn’t even realise it was a sport you could even play over here. We went down to watch the team play an associate game later in the year and every time we played 5-a-side he’d ask me to give it a try. It wouldn’t have worked out for me anyway as I had Sunday League football on a Sunday morning which was more than enough exercise for one day.

Once it got to December however, I had already decided in the back of my mind that this was my last season playing Sunday League, so I gave in and said I’d give it a go. I’ve always been a fan of the quarterback Tom Brady, who’d won another two Super Bowls in 2014 and 2016, so I thought I’d give that position a go as you’re less likely to get snapped in half when playing there…

So in early 2019 I turned up at Darlington Steam’s rookie session and first training session of the new year, not knowing what to expect. My knowledge of the game was limited as I had only watched American football on TV, didn’t understand half of the rules and also had never properly thrown an American football before. So the possibility of me becoming the starting quarterback were very slim!

I turned up on that cold January afternoon and instantly felt at home. The lads and the coaches were so welcoming and I felt like I was part of a family, and that was before I even threw a ball. I went from just giving it a go to actually wanting to be part of the team. After a few sessions I was adapting and getting much better with every throw. Unfortunately for me, there was already a quarterback there who had played at university and had a much better knowledge of the game than I did…

“The lads and the coaches were so welcoming and I felt like I was part of a family”

After a few training sessions, the head coach pulled me to one side and told me that I was ideally suited for the wide receiver position with my height and pace and I’d be much more likely to start games there, so I thought why not. My favourite player was Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski the receiver (technically a tight end) so I had an idea of what receivers generally had to do. So the coach took me over to the receiver group, watched me run a few routes, catch a few balls, he was very impressed and I’ve been a wide receiver ever since.

In case you’re wondering… I’m on the far right, number 84.

So I registered with the league, bought my pads and lid (helmet) and took the number 84. There’s no particular reason for the number 84, other than it belonged to one of the greatest receivers of all time in Randy Moss (plus the other half is a Vikings fan). We were given a playbook of around 20/30 plays to remember, we trained every week, and before we knew it we were playing the club’s first official league game in Scotland of all places! When it’s your first league game the last thing you want is to be on a coach for over 3 hours. I was a nervous wreck as I had no idea what to expect, but once we arrived and got kitted up and on the field it was all about making sure you run your routes, do your job, and put someone on their backside.

Part way through the season, half way through a game, our punter picked up an injury and we had no back up. As it was half time, the coaches asked for volunteers to practice punting to take over in the second half. I had no idea what technique you had to use to kick a ball that wasn’t round, so I left it to someone who was more experienced than I was, but I was more than happy to return the kicks back up to the half way line from the end zone (around 50 yards). After the first few kicks my arm was aching and I didn’t want to injure myself for the second half, so I decided I would kick it, but firstly asked my teammate what on earth I had to do. Luckily it was the experienced quarterback who helped me out. Before I knew it I was punting these balls over 40 yards back up the field. The special teams coach came up to me and said I was now the clubs new punter. We practiced a few punts in the next training session and I’ve been the first choice punter ever since.

For our first official season we gave a very good account of ourselves and we were all set to come back stronger in 2020. We’ve recruited some new additions, added some new plays and now have a very strong special teams unit. What we didn’t account for was our 2020 season to be cancelled due to a global pandemic. To be fair I don’t think anyone expected it. I just can’t wait to get back on the field with the lads and do what we do best. Until then, take care of yourselves in this crazy world that we live in!

“One, two, three” “STEAM!!!”