It was the first padded practice my junior year, the sun was blazing angrily and the Earth was its punching bag. This was my first practice back from a torn shoulder. This injury happened because my refusal to listen to my physician. I had previously injured my shoulder, but my fear of letting my coaches down and looking weak in front of my teammates led me to play through this injury. This erroneous decision worsened my torn labrum; to the point that I had to lose five months of my junior year to rehab. My inactiveness during this time left me sorely out of shape. As football players, we are taught that the biggest competition in the race for scholarships; are the athletes that are thousands of miles away, not the ones that are in our backyard.
