Mistakes

In sports, and in life, mistakes happen. People are not perfect, and never will be perfect so mistakes will always occur. Great teams try and minimize their mistakes and take advantage of other teams mistakes in order to win. Penalties and turnovers are two types of in mistakes that can occur. Human mistakes could be misreading a play or not blocking the right guy. These things happen in every game; otherwise what's the point of playing? Learning from these mistakes is the important thing. Sometimes it's easier than others, depending on the impact it has on the game, but the whole point of making mistakes is to learn from them and become a better player and a better person.

My sophomore year I vividly remember making a mistake at the end of a football game. The reason I remember this one, and not a lot of other ones, is because this one had an impact of both me and the team. It was third and goal and my team made a freeze call, meaning we wouldn't snap the ball and try and draw the other team offside. I was so focused on the guy across from me that I snapped the ball and since the quarterback wasn't expecting it, he didn't catch it and it rolled 15 yards back. Luckily my teammates bailed me out of this particular play because my quarterback picked up the ball and was able to throw it for a completion instead of the other team getting the ball and ending the game. However, because of my mistake we were down to our last play. Less than 30 seconds to go and I knew I couldn't make anymore. The last play I had a good snap, but I see the ball deflect off my teammates hands and fall to the ground in the end zone. We lost. Two mistakes cost us that football game at the end; a bad snap on my part, and a dropped pass in the end zone. That was a tough one to take in. I remember walking into the locker room about as sad as I've ever been after a loss. But I knew I had something to learn from and something to build upon. This year I don't make those mistakes, and especially against that team. We were able to beat them in both the varsity and JV game this year, getting revenge from last year, and improving upon our previous mistakes.

If you listen to sports analysis people who break down games, they always pin the loss on the mistakes of the team that lost. Whether it was a penalty at the end of the game, or an interception on the last play of the game, that one play is always pin pointed. In reality, there are many plays during the game that affect the outcome, not just one or two. This past weekend the Michigan punter on the last play of the game fumbled the ball and the other team returned it for a touchdown, making them lose the game. All the blame is put on the punter for the loss because if he punted the ball is team would have won. Sure the man messed up, but if the offense would have gotten a first down, he wouldn't have ever been on the field. If the offense could have made less turnovers earlier in the game and scored more, then that last play wouldn't have had such a big impact. The reality is the mistake happened. What people need to realize though is that it's just a game. Far greater mistakes in life can be made than dropping a football. Making a bad snap is minimal to other mistakes that can happen.

Learn from your mistakes and from others. They are used to grow and used to improve upon. No one is ever perfect. Everyone has those days when you screw up, or make a bad decision. The important thing to remember is that people are always there for you to help pick you back up, just like my teammates were there for me on that play. No one is perfect, that's the beauty of life, but it's how you respond to adversity that builds true character and makes you into a better person.