In small towns across America, football is a lifestyle. It is a time honored tradition, with generations of a family carrying the pigskin, and the boys of fall are the shining stars of the community. For me, football was like my fraternity is -- a huge part of my daily life. Playing high school football was the greatest factor in my smooth transition into Greek life. On the field and in the frat house, there is a great emphasis on teamwork, brotherhood, and tradition.
Teamwork is the most important part to running a fraternity, and football is the best example of athletic teamwork. Unlike baseball, where a good pitcher will win a game, or basketball, which only needs a good three-point shooter, football requires each of the eleven players to do his job to the best of his ability. While the quarterback makes most of the touchdowns, he would have a broken neck without a good offensive line. Similarly, without a decent safety, the opposing team would stop running the ball, and throw it long every play.
The fraternity is the same; every person is involved to make traditions work, recruit, and ultimately pay dues and make grades so fun can be had. This sport has groomed me to work with others, figure out that defensive tackle we needed to double-team, and has given me the drive to make myself better for the team. The best example is sprints: we all hate running at the end of practice, but doing it together makes us stronger. Without my teammates there is no chance that I would run full speed every time, trying hard to be at the front of the pack.
Perhaps the most wonderful aspect to a team is the brotherhood. Erk Russell once said, "The brotherhood of football... is the strongest brotherhood known to man as far as I'm concerned." Football players spend more time with the team than they do with their girlfriends; working out together in the off-season, we endure an entire “hell week" of two-a-day practices each August, and we strut the halls of school wearing our letter jackets. Does this sound like a fraternity, yet? The brotherhood found within a team is rooted in the commitment we all have, the desire to win, and the competition among our peers to be starting string on Friday night.
Being a part of such an intense program with tight bonds among men brews tradition. I have found similar great traditions to be the team meals. We, in Greek life, enjoy the banquets and happy hours together, and in football there were times we would chow down at the Golden Corral before a game or meet for breakfast on a Friday morning. Maybe, more importantly, was the role of the senior. Like in a Greek organization, the seniors are the leaders, captains, the starters, and ultimately the guys the freshmen look up to.
The parallels between football and the fraternity gave me the desire to rush once I came to college. When I see guys from this past brotherhood, it is no different than seeing alumni of my own Greek organization. If you are a freshman, played football, and would like to continue the lifestyle of leadership, rush this fall. While you don't even have to be athletic to join some fraternities, many of my closest brothers had the same life with a helmet strapped on from August to November. I guess the only experience a fraternity cannot replace is the feeling of a solid tackle.
