This Is Why We Do It!!

I thought I would take a moment to vent about how much football is a part of the Adams' household. Most people have no clue what being a football coach entails, let alone marrying a man who coaches the great sport. I have come to LOVE this game. I guess I kind of have to. Our lives pretty much revolve around football. For those of you that know me well, I am a very emotional and reflective girl. I am not a fan of the "aging" process. For some reason, I think about it often and how fast time passes by. Everyday, I reflect on my life in one way or another. Yesterday, I thought about football. Why, you ask? Well, I was very upset at this sport yesterday. I have been extremely sleep deprived and being sleep deprived has led me to be a little grumpy toward Klay, pretty much for no reason. I totally hate when I get in this mode. Football takes up so much of Klays time that I am left to be in charge of EVERYTHING else in our lives. 95% of the time, I wouldn't have it any other way. I am a type A personality, and like things done "my" way. With Klay being a football coach, I have been able to have things "my" way and pretty much will be able to the rest of my life. That sounds kind of selfish, but it really works out to both of our advantage. He is not a "planner" and hates organizing or scheduling things. But yesterday, I was just so bothered that he was not able to be home and help me around the house. I was also bothered that I have been asking him for weeks to get some tax information at the school, and have had no results. This happens when you marry into football. Your husband has NO time to do anything other than football. I hate when I get grumpy over stupid things like this, but it tends to happen every now and then when you are basically on your own. This led me to reflect...it led me to thinking about why football is such an important part of our lives. It takes a special person to coach this sport. It takes passion, determination, and heart. It takes these things because football is ever changing. You could get laid off tomorrow, you could get another job and be moving tomorrow, or you could be suddenly going out of town for a few days for some reason or another. But most of all, coaching football is about teaching the youth. I remembered this yesterday when I stumbled upon a few pictures of Klayton coaching his boys at WWU. These pictures reminded me of why he does what he does, regardless of the LONG hours (he works generally 6am to 6pm in the off season and 5am to 10pm in season) and being away from home. He is such an influence on the youngsters that he coaches. And they love him. I was reminded by these pictures what a player once said to me "We are all worried that he is going to leave here to go to a better school. If that happens half of our team would quit". This made me feel good, not that the team would quit, but that they loved having him as a coach. Not just the offensive line, but half of the team. That, to me, is an accomplishment. I remember that moment he told me what I was thinking. I thought to myself, this is why we do it. This is WHY we do it!! He totally validated all of our hard work, and it made me feel so good. And, I was reminded of this yesterday upon my daily reflection...This is WHY we do it! I was reminded that Klay coaches football because he loves the sport, he has a passion for the sport and has never lived without it. He coaches it because he is a great teacher and inspiration to others. You can see how happy the boys are below. I can't find the picture of all 20 of the boys and him, but below are his starting O-Line men:

Last Game @ WWU:
The night that WWU cut the football program, all the boys came over to get sappy together, although they don't look so sappy to me!

Why do I do it? Not coach obviously, but dedicate my life in a different way to this sport? Well, because I love Klay obviously, but because I LOVE that I am a part of making a special impact on peoples lives. Klay isn't just a coach, he is a teacher, and mentor to his players. After this reflection, I quickly called Klay and apologized for being a crab. Reflection is therapy! Thank goodness it is free! (I can't wait to meet his new offensive line and capture the new memories from here to help me reflect!!)

Klays first game coaching WWU: