+- International Simulation Football League (https://forums.sim-football.com)
+-- Forum: Community (https://forums.sim-football.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Media (https://forums.sim-football.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=37)
+---- Forum: Graded Articles (https://forums.sim-football.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=38)
+---- Thread: *Tae Dawson- A Background (/showthread.php?tid=39016)
*Tae Dawson- A Background - Gage2 - 04-24-2022
The Story So Far
Growing up, Well I wouldn't exactly call it that. Being put in a position where you have to become the man in the house around the same time as you're supposed to be learning multiplication is a grueling task. I was too young to understand but losing my father was something that would haunt me for the rest of my life. The task of having to move forward and figure things out without him was a monkey that would be on my back for the rest of my life. Without my father, the financial hardship began. Moving back and forth between Texas and Louisiana, One year I would be in Baton Rouge and the next in San Antonio. It was hard to go to school and relate to other kids that I barely knew. Finally, this streak of hardship would come to a halt when I was entering the 4th grade. I had moved back to Galveston for the first time in years and it was more comfortable. I discovered the sport of basketball and grew a liking for players who played way before I was even born and I couldn't stop watching Kobe and LeBron highlights. I had nothing else really going on at the time so I tried out, Well I didn't make it. I heard the coaches talk about me and say “He just doesn't have the height to play '' It didn't upset me that I didn't make it, It was why I didn't make it. My whole life I was being screwed by things I couldn't control so if there was a reason I failed at something I wanted it to be on me and not the result of something out of my hands.
Then there was football, Well not quite yet. I couldn't tell you too much about it at this point other than it was a game that we played a lot in PE, I was always picked first in class because I could zip up and down the field. My mother was a track athlete at LSU so if I had anything going for me it was the speed and quickness I inherited. The coach couldn't help but eventually ask me to come to play for the team, I was hooked. I was put at safety because of my speed and ability to go from side to side. Now I was watching Copperheads games every week and starting to study my craft, I didn't feel like an outcast
In high school, I couldn't stop staring at the trophies and jerseys. Mike Evans, Kimble Anders, and lots and lots of professional football players. A bit of a setback happened but it was a blessing. The past two years as a freshman and sophomore I was playing wideout and corner. The problem is while I was locking people up on defense, I also couldn't stop dropping the ball on offense and the coach took me off the offense. I was frustrated but come college time I was going to have to make that decision anyway and the right one was made. Now I was becoming a true leader and helping out the team in any way I could. I guess something did feel empty however, Every big play and interception I would look into the crowd for my father but he wasn't there. I'm not sure what the reason for me looking was but I did it anyway.
One morning I'm eating breakfast and watching television. The next comes to a hurricane and before me or my mom could react to it the house is flooded. My belongings are floating out in the Gulf of Mexico. I froze for the next few days wondering what would come next. I was blessed to live in the basement of my coach's house for the last few months of my senior season but now I felt even more pressure because I needed to buy a home for me and my mother.
After being miles and miles away and honing my skills at Alabama. Do I feel any pressure for what's next? Not really.
Covering a big-time receiver, Shutting down game-winning drives, Playing big games sure that's pressure. But whatever is heading to me next is nothing compared to the pressure I have already faced.