One of my earliest memories of college football that had a significant impact on me was during fall football camp in my freshman year.
During a play, one of our older players suffered a major injury, causing the athletic trainers to rush onto the field to assist the player in pain. At that moment, our head coach yelled “Riverside!” In football’s context, when “Riverside” is shouted during practice, it signifies that the offense should go in the opposite direction on the field, allowing practice to continue while the injured player remains on the field.
That day, practice carried on, and unfortunately, the injured player never played football again. It was astonishing to experience for the first time, but it became normalized as injuries occurred frequently.
Whether it was practice or a game, when someone gets injured, the show goes on without them, even if they are a notable player like Aaron Rodgers. This taught me that people are attracted to your gifts, not necessarily you as an individual. Once your gift is gone, they will move on to the next person.
The negative aspect I learned from witnessing this happen repeatedly over time is that we are not as important as we believe ourselves to be. However, the positive aspect is also realizing that we are not as important as we think we are.
FLY, BLACK BOY 