Coming Back Stronger Read Online Free Page A

Series. So watching my brother play in Omaha at Rosenblatt Stadium in 2005 ranks up there as one of the proudest moments in my life. My brother was living out a childhood dream for both of us.
    In a way, my brother used the pressure people put on him to excel in different areas, like baseball and business. He now lives in Denver and works in sales.
    Some things in my life have made me step back and say, “Man, how did my family end up with so many problems?” But I’ve found that when you start talking to people, everybody’s family has something they’ve dealt with. Every family has issues and is a little dysfunctional. It’s not whether you will have problems within your family; it’s how you handle those difficulties when they come your way.

Coming Back Stronger
    Westlake High School
    In spite of the divorce, I really didn’t have a bad childhood. In fact, in my mind, my life was the greatest I could have asked for. Some things weren’t easy to go through, but I wouldn’t trade any of it. All the negative and positive mixed together to make me who I am.
    For example, when I was a freshman in high school, I changed school districts. Mom felt that of all the public schools in the area, Westlake High School in Austin had the best combination of academics and athletics. She valued high academic standards as well as a good sports program, and Westlake had both.
    I remember some conflict between my mom and dad about the school decision. My dad’s a real easygoing guy, kind of a go-with-the-flow type, whereas my mom was supercompetitive, probably overly competitive, if there is such a thing. When she and Dad would argue, she’d refuse to back down. Whenever she’d get in that bulldog mode, my dad would have no other choice than to agree with her decision.
    My mom was the reason I went to St. Andrew’s Episcopal School for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. She wanted me to get a solid education as well as have a great athletic experience. Dad would say, “Why do we have to pay for private school? The public school’s just fine.”
    But Mom wouldn’t budge.
    When I moved into the Westlake district, I didn’t know many people. I remember the first set of two-a-days as a freshman. This was Texas 5A football. It was Friday Night Lights. There was a sea of guys, probably 150 to 200 kids, all ready to play. The coach said, “Okay, who thinks they can be quarterback?”
    I raised my hand and looked around to see forty other hands in the air. I thought, I am never going to see the field. I was the new guy. All these guys had been part of the same program at the two middle schools in the district. They’d had real game preparation and full-contact experience. I’d been playing flag football the past three years because our small Christian school didn’t have enough players to field a tackle football team. The season hadn’t even started yet, and already I was at a disadvantage.
    There was a positive side, though: playing flag football had kept me from getting hurt early on. Plus, I’d learned a lot of the fundamentals without wearing pads. Flag football is all about throwing, catching, and running as opposed to blocking and contact. The movement is very athletic and fluid, and it forces you to have a solid grasp of the basics.
    I ended up as the fourth quarterback of six my freshman year. The first three went to the freshman A team, and the next three went to the freshman B team. In effect, I was the starter on the freshman B team. Not bad, but I felt lost in a swarm of players.
    During my sophomore year, when I was in the middle of two-a-days, my mom picked me up from practice. She could tell something was up because I was unusually quiet. After she pulled into the garage, she turned off the car and we sat there for a minute.
    I looked at her and used a word that normally didn’t come out of my mouth. “Mom, I think I might want to quit football.”
    She didn’t freak out. She just squinted her eyes with