Why Do I Don T Play Football

No, I don’t play football If you were to see me you would question why I don't play football. I am a 6 ft 2 in, over 280-pound African-American male who everyone assumes plays football. Besides never really understanding the sport, I never actually liked playing. However, I did not experience the worst part of my relationship with football until after I stopped playing the sport. Almost every male, and sometimes females, I come into contact with asks me if I play the sport. The belief that because I am a big guy and male that I need to or should be playing football or any sport is something I have been trying to fight against for most of my life. I know that this not one of the most serious stereotypes that people today face, but it is the one that I have had to deal with and one that I think many males my age and size have confronted for decades.

I decided to start challenging this belief when I was in my junior year of high school. Before then when people asked, “Do you play football?” or “Why don’t you play?” I used to make up excuses that I was injured or that I was playing another sport. It hurt my self-esteem in school because most of my male friends played football and I did not. My parents also wanted me to play football, so I did not get much support from them. I felt alone. I did not want to spend my high school experience playing a sport I did not enjoy. It took me learning about the struggles and plight of people like homosexuals, people of color and women, who are often stereotyped, to feel more comfortable in my own skin. I am more than just a sport I play. Once I realized this, I acted against. I stopped making excuses to strangers on why I did not play football. When they asked, I would tell them the truth. now I hold my head up and tell them why. I felt better as I put this stereotype and sport behind