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Facing down an addiction

Kevin Eckleberry

My name is Kevin Eckleberry. I'm 37-years-old, and I feel it's time I come clean. I have an addiction.

It's time to admit my problem, to remove this cloak of self-denial I've been wearing for so long. I am addicted to football.

There, it's out. I feel so much better, as though a 2,000-pound load has been lifted from my shoulders.

The good thing is, my support group is a rather large one, encompassing nearly every male between the ages of...well, any age I suppose.

And would you like another admission? I don't want to be cured. I love being a football addict, although the withdrawal period is a tough one.

When the Super Bowl ends, there's an empty feeling. But at least you know football will be back, and that allows me to survive those dark months until the pigskin is flying again.

As of today, the countdown is less than one month.

In a matter of weeks, we'll have nearly half a year of football.

I don't discriminate. I love it all, from the high schools, to the college game to the NFL.

I don't have a favorite.

There is nothing like a Friday night under the lights at a high school stadium. The atmosphere is hardly the same from stadium to stadium, but I get the same feeling, whether there are 8,000 people in the stands or 800.

The players give their hearts and souls, as well as a fair amount of flesh and blood, to the game.

They give everything for their teammates, their coaches, their schools and their communities.

That passion comes across on a Friday night. All things are not equal, of course, when it comes to high school football, but what is equal is the enthusiasm players have from school to school.

They have to put in too many hours, nurse too many injuries, and give too much of their lives to approach the game in a half-hearted manner.

One of the most heart-warming moments I've had in this business came when a high school team I was covering snapped a losing streak that had stretched nearly three seasons.

The coach got a Gatorade bath, and the players celebrated for the first and only time that season.

It was a moment you only see on the prep level.

College football is unmatched for atmosphere. Whether it's a night game at Georgia Tech, a Saturday afternoon in Knoxville, or a Saturday evening game in Baton Rouge, a college game is a remarkable experience.

I've been told to really experience a hockey game, you have to be in the arena. The same holds true for college football.

The colors, the sometimes frightening obsession of the fans (especially in the SEC), the fight songs, it all adds up to make a college game an event, not just a game.

In no other sport in this country do the fans dislike each other to such an extent. Men who may be reasonable in most aspects of their lives turn into raging lunatics when it comes to college football.

That all comes spilling over on Saturdays, and it makes for great theater.

The NFL is king.

No other league comes close to matching the NFL in popularity. The NFL even has its own network, which gives football junkies like me a great way to satisfy the football craving 365 days a year.

While the college game is best viewed in person, the NFL is made for television.

Sundays and the NFL go together like apple pie and ice cream.

My favorite photo is one of me and my daughter, Rachel, lying side by side on the living room floor. We both have our hands behind our heads, and we're watching a Falcons game.

That, my friends, is as good as it gets. Family, football, and a nice comfortable spot to watch the game.

I will do my best not to pass along my addiction to my daughter, but I'm afraid she has a poor example to follow.

Football is my weakness, my addiction, and I'm afraid that will never change.

Bring on the pigskin, and let's play football.

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Trojans' QB questions

• The Dougherty High football team is looking at a pair of quarterbacks for the upcoming season.

Colin Chmielewski

ALBANY — For most of the last four seasons, the same familiar face held court over Dougherty's offensive proceedings. If the Trojans were a royal guard, there was no doubt Ronnye Nelson was its king.

Nelson was a four-year starter and a mainstay at quarterback for Carror Wright's crew. And if there was any question about his value to Dougherty, last season's 13-2 record and run to the GHSA Class AAA title game provided a resounding answer.

With Nelson graduated and moved on — along with nine other offensive starters — the Trojans can no longer look back and find that familiar face. Wright has been prepared for this transition the past couple of years, but that doesn't make it any easier.

"It's a big challenge, but it's not a challenge I haven't been through before," said the Dougherty head coach. "We know it's a bad dose of medicine to take. We might as well take it and get it over with. That's what we're trying to do right now."

Junior Kirby Love and sophomore Felton Walls are the two Trojans tasting the most of a bitter medicine that includes memorizing an offense, reading defenses and shouldering the weighty expectations that accompany Dougherty football. Love and Walls are locked in a tight preseason competition to fill Nelson's shoes — or at least the space he occupied in the offense.

"It's hard, because he was a good player," Walls, the sophomore, said. "It's gonna be difficult to find somebody to do the things he did that helped out the school so much."

While there will obviously be a step down in experience and knowledge, both players realize leadership from their position is essential.

"It's very important, because as quarterback the team is gonna look up to you," Love said. "So you're gonna have to keep your head up and make sure they don't see you down. If they see you down, they're going to get down. You have to have someone to push the team. I'm willing to do that job."

Whether Love will get the chance remains to de determined in the next few weeks. Love (5-foot-10, 160-pounds) played some last year behind Nelson, and holds a slight edge because of that experience. Although, Wright said the race could easily go either way.

"If we had to play tomorrow, right now Kirby Love would be our starter," Wright said. "But, the other kid, Felton Walls, might be my better athlete. But, he's a year younger and hasn't been around the program as long. Who can tell what might happen in the next two weeks?"

Walls just turned 15 recently and lacks some of the size (5-8, 155) that Love has. The sophomore just might be able to make up for it with his natural ability and his drive.

"I feel that I have to come out and keep working hard if I wanna start," Walls said. "Just come to practice and give (Love) a challenge every day."

Regardless of who is taking the snaps, offensive coordinator Tim Gooden admits that the Trojans don't have the whole playbook at their disposal as they did with Nelson.

"Our offense is going to be the same, but there's probably going to be less of it to begin with," Gooden said. "Hopefully by mid-season we'll have the whole thing ready to go. But, we're so young right now, we're probably just running 40 percent of it."

Despite having to simplify things in Nelson's absence, Gooden does see a possible upside.

"The whole team depended on (Nelson) for leadership," Gooden said. "The whole team depended on him to get us going. Which was bad in games that he didn't have success early, because we would tend to drag. So, hopefully this year, we won't be waiting on one person."

This year, Dougherty won't be able to focus on one person as it has in seasons past. But the Trojans will still be waiting on one person to win the job. A job that means becoming that familiar face — and accepting all the expectations that come with it.

"You measure a school by its football team," Wright said. "And you measure a football team by its quarterback."

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