“I was always told that I was too small, too skinny, too slow, not tough enough, and I never ever believed what people told me.” - Joe Theismann

It was a cold Saturday afternoon in late October 2010. The trees had just started to change colors. As I woke up I had an uneasy feeling. Something felt off about that Saturday I just couldn’t figure out what it was.The place to be was at Troy High School, it was the quarterfinals of the NYFL JV Football Tournament. The 8-1 Clarkson Chiefs Blue team were squaring off against the 7-2 Troy Colts. We had beaten the Colts once earlier on in the season, but it’s difficult to beat a team twice in one season. As I got out of the car this uneasy feeling started to get worse but I just looked at it as butterflied. We walked into the stadium with something to prove. We were favored to win that day, but I wasn’t going to take anyone or any team lightly. One of  the first things that I saw that fateful day, were the Troy Colts lined up getting ready to be weighed in. They all wore hot pink knee high socks and most players sported blonde, poorly cut mohawks.

I can still remember our coach telling us, “You guys better knock those mohawks right off of those kids heads”.

As soon as my coach said that, a fire lit up inside me and all I could think about was destroying Troy. Nothing brings me more pleasure than beating a team when they think they have a chance. Like every game before, with 10 minutes to kickoff, I started to get butterflies. These weren’t your typical butterflies.

Before every game I would get so nervous that I would go up to my coach and say ”Coach I’m not feeling well, I don’t think I can play today, I would puke every time! The coach would tell me the same thing

“Max you’re fine, get your butt out there.”

It wasn’t until I would find my way to the trash can and puke out everything I ate that morning, until I would start to feel better. The National Anthem started to play and my stomach was turned inside out with fear and nervousness.  I wanted to crawl into a little ball and just sleep. I knew I couldn’t, I was the quarterback and I had to suck it up and get over it. I couldn’t just leave my team out on the field to dry. Too many people were counting on me and I knew, after the first play was over, I would be in the zone and that rush of adrenaline was the best feeling ever! I knew I was tough enough, I wasn’t too small or too slow. Everyone believed in me, it was time I believed in myself. I realized I had to be the leader and step up, I didn’t realize how much I thrive on being a leader.  After the national anthem was over, it was time to go out for the coin toss. One of my favorite memories of Football was going out for the coin toss with my best friends, there was something special about it. 

We won the toss and choose to receive. We wanted to make a statement to come out and score early and often. I remember like it was yesterday, our guys ran out there to receive the kick. My stomach was tossing and turning as if someone stuck a knife in me and was twisting it. I ran out to the field for the first offensive play of the day. As I ran out onto the field I glanced up into the stands and found my dad, he was bundled up in his Michigan Wolverines sweatshirt and a winter hat. Then I scanned the sideline to find my mom, she was the only girl coach ever in Clarkston Chiefs history. She always had a smile on her face. I remember looking over and seeing kids just slamming their helmets into each other just yelling. Looking back, both players were probably concussed at the time. That didn’t matter though, this game was more than just a football game, it was a chance to get to next week, which was the Super Bowl.

Our first drive started out slow and we lost yards.  Facing 4th and 7, there was a lot of pressure to get a first down. As I ran over to Coach Adams to get the play, he called play 35. As I looked down at my wristband and found the play, I stopped running to the huddle, and thought “What the hell is he thinking.”.

As I ran to the huddle, the guys were all down and kind of losing their steam. They were looking defeated already.  I looked them in the eyes and said “Guys lets go, they are not just going to roll over and just let us walk over them.  If we want to win, we are going to have to earn it.” I could see as soon as I said that there was a realization amongst the huddle. They kind of looked at one another and I could tell it just kind of clicked with them. I said “okay let's go”, not realizing how much time I had been talking. 

I hear my coach yelling, “Max let’s go”.

  As the time was winding down before we got a delay of game penalty.  I quickly yelled out, “Okay QB sneak on quick”.

  They exclaimed “Max what???? It’s 4th and 7”?

  I said, “Guys they won’t expect it, they have been one step ahead of us this whole time, we have to mix it up.”

As we ran to the line, I looked at the defensive line trying to pick out my hole. As Michael stood across the line stalking his prey, just waiting to pounce as if he was Lawrence Taylor. As I tapped Hodges’ leg, he quickly snapped the ball. I didn’t have time to look, I just ran to the one hole. To my surprise, it was the right choice and I broke into their second level getting the first down. The back side safety was coming in from the left side and I was worried I couldn’t get past him.  As he got closer, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Michael Fluegel come out of nowhere and absolutely destroy the safety! As Michael hit him, I could hear the air out of his lungs be stolen from Michael and the Troy Colt safety hit the ground with such force. After Michael smoked that kid, there was nothing remaining between me and the end zone. So I took it to the next level, opened up my strides and really focused on the end zone.  I was not going to let anything get in my way!  As I was running, I remembered what I said in the huddle and saw what my team was capable of when they were motivated.  We all believed we could do it, they played harder and created the scoring opportunity.

As I broke the pile on, it wasn’t until that moment that I realized if someone was going to motivate them and make them want to win, why not let that person be me? Because of that motivation, I would do things differently and I would be the leader.  I would take charge and make those around me better. I love being the leader, I love being in charge, I loved the pressure!

I got to the huddle and used the same words with my team that had worked earlier in the game. I reinitiated the fact that they are not going to roll over for us, we have to take it from them. We have to want it more than they do!  We started to take over and dominated every aspect of the game from that moment on. We blocked the punt and stopped them on the four yard line. During the next drive, they started to gain momentum, they were driving as they approached midfield. I was now on defense playing safety and I could see the whole field. As they snapped the ball, I knew what they were going to do before it even developed. In that moment, had a flashback to watching film with my coach and it made me smile because I had watched them do this play before!  I flash backed in my head to the previous Thursday, in my room, watching the film of Troy vs Birmingham and when the left guard pulls as the tight end goes out to block around the end, I knew it was a sweep! If I didn’t watch that film, I never would have known until it was too late. I started running to where I anticipated the play would be and as I saw the running back, my eyes lit up like a kid in a candy shop! I ran towards the running back and I kept visualizing as that eleven year old looked up.“This is going to be one of the biggest hits in football history.” In my head I kept saying “Today is the day. Today is the day.”

I was so excited, I dropped my head and put everything I had into this hit. As soon as I made contact, I immediately felt a pulsing in my neck and it went numb for about 10 seconds. My eyes just closed and I passed out for 15-30 seconds. When I woke up, my neck hurt, but it was no longer numb. My head felt like I was hit in the head with a sledgehammer. In that moment I thought, “Is this how he felt as L.T shattered his leg, not just the physical pain but the everlasting thought of this could be it?”

When I saw my mom run over along with my coach and the trainer, I started to get scared. My mom was instantly in tears as soon as she saw me. It took me back to the other times I had gotten a concussion but this time was different. She did look as worried, as she looked scared, I will never forget the look on her face.  She looked like she just saw someone get murdered, she looked terrified! After I had finally gotten up for the first time, they started to walk me over to the sideline. Once I go to the sideline, I had to lay back down again and eventually an ambulance took me to the hospital. As I laid there there in my hospital bed thought couldn’t escape my mind “Would this be it, how can I function without football in my life...what will I do.”

3 hours and $5,000 later, many tears and a cut off jersey later, I was finally released from the emergency room. I had gotten my second concussion in 4 months. What had started out as an exciting game with an outstanding touchdown, ended up being the game that changed everything.That game was what eventually ended my football career and has had a significance influence on the person I am today. Everyday I think about that day, it’s because that day that I don’t take things for granted I take every opportunity I have be a better person. It took this tragedy to teach me there is more to life than pee wee football. Football taught me a lot about teamwork, accountability, responsibility, and dedication. Now that I haven't played football for 3 years I use everything I learned every day. Football helped make me the person I am today.