Something Tough

Toughness is what shows in a person throughout a difficult situation. The way that individual responds to pain, either physical or emotional, portrays his/her toughness to anyone viewing the situation. Something that I have encountered throughout my life that has required a kind of toughness is football. Not just because of the pain during weight training workouts or contact drills, but mental strain that the sport puts on every player that buttons-up their chin strap and steps onto the field.
Being a quarterback, I have always been expected to be the leader. The hardest aspect of football to me has been to master the mental aspect of the game. The mental toughness it takes to shake off an interception and join the huddle confident on the next drive is unlike anything I can describe. The toughness it takes to get up after being sacked from behind, the most painful hit in football, and walk into the huddle and encourage the lineman is one of the toughest tasks I have encountered in my 18 years of life. The mental power that football requires often surpasses the physical toughness of the sport. Pushing yourself while doing sprints even when your body wants to quit, making a big hit even though it is going to hurt, knowingly sacrificing your body for the benefit of the team; all are required by the sport of football.
Although I do not believe that football is as tough as the life Anney had to lead, or the events Bone went through at all; I do believe that it is a sport that can only be played by tough individuals. None that aren’t would ever be able to make it through a single game.
-Jordan Conant