ETHAN PLAYS FOOTBALL!

That's one sentence I never thought I would say!

And it's not that I didn't think Ethan COULD play football... but Ethan has always been a little anti-football! And I'm not convinced that his anti-football attitude was really about football at all. He was really more of an anti-sports kind of guy! And one could think this was in an attempt to go against the grain in the Adair family filled with sports fanatics. But Ethan has never been interested in doing sports or anything physical for that matter. From a very small age David would take Ethan in the backyard and try to play anything "BALL" with him. And Ethan never gave David the time of day. He just wasn't interested! Ethan has always been very creative, very imaginative, and very smart! But athletic he was not... Well not until now that is!

Ethan is the one wearing yellow socks.

Ethan is a pretty big kid. And I'm not talking fat, I'm talking big! He's tall for his age, he wears a size 12 shoe, and he's solid! Ethan has always been naturally strong. Ethan isn't a mean kid by nature but one thing all his siblings had to learn the hard way was that you shouldn't mess with Ethan to the point of making him mad. Because when Ethan is mad, someone is probably going to get hurt and that someone isn't Ethan!

Last year Ethan prided himself in not attending a single football game of Bradon or Carsten's. And I was totally okay with that because Ethan was my babysitter. If Ethan didn't want to go to the games, that meant Reagan and Talan didn't have to go either. I had a pretty awesome gig going on for awhile there! Ethan however WAS interested in going to the BYU games and I noticed that he began asking questions about the game. And even if he didn't go to the boys games, I would find him watching their game films right along side the rest of us and every now and then making comments and asking questions.

At the end of football season last year the Lone Peak League was selling old helmets and pads for next to nothing. David bought a set for each of the boys including Ethan. The boys would put them on and go in the backyard and play tackle football, Ethan included. And it was then and their that EVERYONE noticed Ethan's strength. Our neighbor Tom who was the 6th grade football coach last year told Ethan that he thought he should give football a chance. He told him that he would pick him to be on his team this year and help him out. Tom saw something in Ethan and thought he had potential. And I think that's what got Ethan really thinking!

Before long Ethan said that he wanted to play. David and I were nervous that he was feeling pressured into playing football because that's what our family LOVES. We gave him every opportunity to back out. And when Tom was called to be in his bishopric and decided not to coach football this year we talked with Ethan yet again. And no matter what we said to him, his answer was always, "I want to play!" Well okay then.

We put him in a running class this summer to condition him for the sport. And then signed him up for the American Fork Football Camp. David and I were so nervous that he would get hurt, have a bad experience, or something would happen and he would never want anything to do with football again. And it's not that we necessarily want him to just play football, we just want him to have something he loves. Something to be involved with. We don't care what that something is, we just want it to be a good positive experience.

Look how little this guy is he's up against! The poor kid had no chance!

So he went out for the 7th grade team. He was picked to be on the B team which is perfect for being a first year player. His coaches are 2 young guys with dreams of becoming High School coaches one day.
Everyday he gets ready for practice without complaint. At practice he works hard and does his best. Everyday after practice we ask, "Do you like it?" And he always responds with a positive, "YES!"
At first I'm not sure how much he really understood. Early on he decided that he wanted to play on the offensive line. When they would put him on defense he wouldn't tackle the guy, instead he would just block him. He would play defense as if he was an offensive player. One day after practice I explained to him that when he did that, he was only making the offensive lineman look really good at his job. If he ever wanted a chance to take over the starting offensive line position then he had better throw that guy to the ground and go after the ball carrier. He had to make his teammate look bad! His teammate is really his competition! And everyday is a tryout to see who can get the job done!
Up until that point Ethan hadn't realized that. It was like a little light bulb went off in his head and you should of seen him after that. He was chucking kids t0 the ground and going after the ball carrier. And when the coaches would ask him where he wanted to play he would tell them, offensive line!
At the beginning of the first game Ethan was second string offensive line. Just before halftime the coach put him in the game and he played great!
In the second half the coach put him in again. We told Ethan that every time the coach called for starting O we wanted him to just run out onto the field. If the coach didn't want him there he would take him off. So that's what he did. The starting O player saw Ethan running out onto the field and said, "coach didn't say you were starting O!" Ethan turned and looked at the coach with a look of confusion. And the coach yelled, "Adair you're in, Niko you're out!" It was awesome! And that's how it went down! Ethan is now the starting offensive line, right guard!

It's fun to see Ethan enjoy what he's doing! And he's pretty good at it too! It's fun to see this new competitive side of him. he doesn't just want to play football, he wants to start!

Way to go Ethan!
We couldn't be more proud of you and the man you are becoming! Good luck on a great football season!