I think I want to quit football, but I don't know if I should. Would I regret it later on in life?

Question

I'm going to be a sophomore this year and I've played football since 4th grade. I've played fullback and linebacker for the last 2 seasons. I think I've lost my passion to play since I don't have any desire to go to practice at all. I'm a 4.0 gpa student and I am very involved in many different activities in school. Every time I go out on the field I wonder why the heck am I doing this? I also do track and I was the farthest freshmen thrower my track coach has ever had in his 16 years of coaching. So if I quit football then I'd just focus on track. The problem is I'm really good at football. I asked my parents and they said it was ok if I quit but I know they'd be disappointed (along with my grandparents) if I stopped. But there are so many other things I could do instead of doing daily doubles. Plus my football team is kinda gonna suck this year anyway. But would I regret it later on if I quit? I also can't stand the physical pain anymore. Am I abandoning my team? Is this one of those things that I'll hate now but enjoy later?

Answer 1

i would stick with it.

Try switching positions, maybe that will bring back some spark...(sounds like a marriage shrink)

Answer 2

Although I wasnt very good at football I hated playing it at the time as well and really wanted to quit, but my father told me to stick with it and Im glad I did. If I could I would like to have played (well been on the team) longer because of the experience, its something you will never ever be able to do again.

I say stick with it at least one more year, you may regain that passion again.

Answer 3

No you wont

i was amazing at swimming but i quit because i stopped enjoying it

my parents keep saying well you would still be winning if you did swimming and it kills me when they say that but i wouldnt swap it with the sports i do now even if i dont win i love them more them then the swimming when i liked it.

If you dont enjoy it quit and find a new sport you have amazing passion for

Answer 4

Stick with it. In 20 years, you'll have great memories and stories to tell at the 20th year high school reunion. Plus football looks good on your college applications.

Answer 5

Man, I struggled with this same issue when I was your age.  I was a wrestler - a 110lb dynamo.  It's tough to find little guys who aren't all skin and bones to wrestle in the featherweights and I was darn good because I was thick, compact and wiry.

So my teammates REALLY wanted me to wrestle.  Yeah I won and that helped the team.

And then I decided I had had enough.  I wasn't wrestling for me.  I didn't feel like I had a lot to learn from it anymore.  I was wrestling to please everyone else.

Wrestlers are unforgiving, for the next 3 years these guys - many of them stayed my friends, but they harrassed the h**l out of me.  Some I could tell actually resented me because they wanted to quit too!!!

I have no regrets.  I HATED WRESTLING.  I loved X-Country and Cycling.  Deal with it world.

Hey - you might be depressed right now and that's killing your passion.  Ask yourself if it's possible to love football again - what do you want out of it?  What can it offer you?  Maybe you just need time.

Remember Robert Smith, RB for the Minnesota Vikings?  Look him up bro - the dude is now an Astronomy Professor - he teaches troubled kids how to build telescopes.  He was one of the top RB's in the league and holds all-time records for the Vikes... but he walked away from the game because he found it boring.  He is an intellectual guy and he felt he had learned all he could from the game.  He was roundly criticized but you know what... the dude did what was right for him.  I saw him working with those kids and he was happier than he ever was on the football field.

Football isn't the most important thing in the world and anyway only like, what, .01% ever actually make it to the pro level... So your future probably lies with that sweet GPA bro.

But again... ask yourself if there is a way to love football again give yourself time and consider taking a year off.  Retire.  See how it feels and if you change your mind.  You can walk on next year and make the team.  You know what it takes.

Good luck.