That was my Pops

I remember playing Pop Warner football and I decided I was going to try out as a running back.

My coach brought us up for the first drill which called for us running into a dummy, spinning off and running down the field. When my turn came I hit the dummy, spun, fell on the ball and knocked my air out.

It was not a good start.

When the first game came around, I made it as the starting tailback. On the second play of the game I took the hand-off up the middle, broke to the outside and took it in for a touchdown.

As I crossed the goal line I looked over and saw my Pops on the other side cheering me on. The only problem with that is that he was supposed to be working the down marker. Thank goodness there was no penalty because he ran down the sideline with the down marker in his hand.

Every time I played any sport, my main goal was to make Pops proud to be able to say "that is my son". That was just one of many good moments I had with Pops.

Ray, Phoenix, Arizona