Former star safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Troy Polamalu, once said “I’ve never been a fan of individual awards because football is such a team sports. There’s so many things that go into making plays. It’s about teammates trusting one another and working together.” It’s the very first sentence of my speech and I’ve already hit you with a corny quote about a sport some of you may dislike or even despise. As cliché as the quote may sound it does highlight a couple key values and traits developed through the game that are often overlooked. Football, as strangely as it may sound is extremely underrated in various capacities, but before I elaborate on this claim I want you to all answer a question in your head. What do you think someone gets out of playing the game of football in school or even beyond at a professional level? Now that you’ve answered, I, Torin Smith am going to tell you how football has affected my life and how it’s shaped me as a person. …show more content…
This anger that would build up inside of me needed an outlet, and what better place than the football field. My mom and dad, sports lovers, encouraged me to play sports at young age for the physical advantages it had on my body and the psychological rewards it possessed. More importantly they realized how football could help deter my comical temper tantrums I used to have as a kid. They couldn’t have been more right; through the game and from my coaches I was taught to be disciplined and how to control myself. Oh, and did I mention I was able to assert my anger on the field in a legal and controlled