Dave Parker is the color analyst for the Alamo Heights Mules football team. I have had the absolute privilege to work with Dave on a few of those Heights broadcasts along with 2 state championship games. He is a master of vocabulary. I always laugh when he mentions the “fat guys”! He is not being offensive; he is talking about the offensive line (no pun intended)!
One of those state championship was in 2006 at the Alamodome as the Alamo Heights Mules played the Copperas Cove Bulldogs. I know Alamo Heights won that game, but other than that, I have no recollection of it and that really sucks cause the quarterback for Copperas Cove was Robert Griffin III!!!! Griffin won the Heisman Trophy for Baylor in 2011 and was the 2nd pick in the 2012 NFL draft for the Washington Redskins. I guess, the quarterback for Alamo Heights, Giovanni Vizza, must have really out played him.
RG3 is the starting quarterback for the Redskins and Vizza is the quarterback coach at Central Catholic High School.
Thanks for being a guest blogger Dave and I look forward to working with you this season.
By Dave Parker
Can my son be a high school football player?
Being a former player, coach, official, and now dabbling as a broadcaster, I am often asked by parents if I think their kid can be a high school football player? The answer I always give is a hardy “YES”! After that statement, I always add two other words, “realistic expectations”.
Football is one of the few high school sports that doesn’t “cut” kids. If you remember the story
about Michael Jordan being cut from his high school team as a sophomore, he had the tenacity to get
around that obstacle but I would say that is the exception to the rule.
Most kids that are unable to make their high school team in a particular sport then end their careers in
that sport. Football keeps kids in the program and you would be surprised how many “B” team players in
middle school end up starting on the varsity because they have the intensity for the game and work their
tails off to achieve success. This work ethic then follows them throughout their lives. I have the
opportunity to attend a lot of high school games and the teams with the best athletes don’t always win. I
will share with you one such instance and will not mention the name of the teams to avoid distracting the
point I am trying to make.
Imagine a small community that really supports their school and team and buys into what the coach is
trying to do. The players on this team are not Division I prospects. When they play their last game as
Seniors , it is likely to be the last organized football game they will ever play. This night they are playing
a team that has at least eight DI prospects and perhaps even more. The small community team is
organized, well coached, disciplined, patient, well-conditioned and most of all INTENSE. The game
starts and the athletes dominate for a while but the lesser team perseveres and does not make mistakes
and slowly they take command of the game. The team with the better athletes begins to falter. They tire
and make more mistakes, they commit needless penalties and fail to stay in their area of responsibility.
These miscues begin to show up on the scoreboard and eventually the team with less talent wins the
game. The lesson learned here is that even though your son may not be D1 material, if he works, he
can play. He will learn that he has to show up every day and have enthusiasm for what he is doing.
Every employer in the world will tell you that showing up and loving your job will take you a long
way in this world.
Bottom-line- Your son can play, he must hang in there and put in the hours but he will play. Realistic
expectations are still necessary because 6’4” is still 6’4”.
Check out the previous Inside the Huddle guest bloggers:
Inside the Huddle – Mark Kusenberger 8/29/2012
Inside the Huddle – Virgil Peterson 9/3/2012
Inside the Huddle – Derrick Hayes 9/5/2012
Inside the Huddle – Texas Bob 9/12/12
Tomorrow night, I will be at Gustafson stadium for a District 27-5A match-up between the
Brandeis Broncos and the Stevens Falcons.
I will be at Farris stadium on Friday for yet another District 27-5A game between the Jay
Mustangs and the O’Connor Panthers.
On Saturday, I will be at Rutledge stadium for the Wagner Thunderbirds and Monterrey
Tech.
