It always hurts to see your favorite team lose in a championship game or series. Tears and heartbreak represent common emotions of sadness upon missing out on the big opportunity to be crowned as the best team in your league. I am one of the few people that can say have lost a championship game, and yet I did not cry after being defeated in the biggest game of my life. That happened during my senior year of playing football at Libertyville High School, in suburban Chicago, when my football team made the State Championship game and lost. However, I felt there was no need for me to cry about losing the biggest game of my life. And there is logical reasoning behind why I didn't.

My football background to playing the game was very different then most of my teammates. I had always been a fan of the game since elementary school. But it was not until the 10th grade, my sophomore year of high school, until I decided I would actually play the game. I remember telling my parents my desire to play for the Wildcats starting in the 2013 season back in November of 2012, during my freshmen year of high school. My mom thought I was crazy. But, after discussing it over with my dad, she decided she would let me try the game out. But, she told me that I was responsible for getting myself up for lifting and all off-season morning workouts. Much to her surprise, I did just that. But much to my surprise, lifting was actually much harder than I thought. I could not even lift a 45-pound standard bar by myself. I had to start out by working out with small dumbbells until I could finally lift a bar unassisted in April. By time summer camp for sophomore football began, I built up enough strength to play my new position, an offensive lineman. In all honesty, I was training to become a receiver, or maybe a tight end because that is what I really wanted to play. But because of my lack of experience, I was pushed down to the line. I was a bit disappointed by this at first because I thought line play was totally boring, but later realized how fun it was to play on the physical aspect of the game. However, in my first July training camp, I really struggled with learning a playbook of the offensive line and struggled to understand more complex concepts such as pulling, pass protections, and how to block against different defensive formations. I in fact had no idea that you were supposed to kick out behind the line of scrimmage on passing plays, I always thought you always block the guy straight in front of you on every play. But through the help of my coaches and teammates, I was able to understand these concepts much better as my experience progressed in the program.

After the program had a disappointing 2013 season in my first year, I wanted to push myself even further in the weight room because in just my second year ever of playing football, I would be making the jump to varsity football. Heading into my junior 2014 season, I worked absolutely relentless in the weight room. I got myself up for EVERY 6 AM lifting session that offseason. The team hired a new strength coach that would oversee our workouts so we could improve our physical strength as a team. And, I had made some significant gains during that offseason. Most notably, I excelled on the deadlift. Quickly upping my maximum weight for each rep to around 275-300 pounds. A huge improvement from not being able to even deadlift 200 pounds the year before. During the humid July practices, I pushed myself to the limit to become a person capable of handling varsity football. My play started to improve from the previous year, but the thing I struggled the most with was adjusting to the speed of the varsity game. I was often getting beat by pass rushers in practice and whenever I would see action in games.

As for the teams performance in the 2014 season, things turned out to be quite a success. Many in the local media outlets did not project my Wildcats to have a good season due to the disappoint the year before, as well as having to adjust to the losses of many key starters who had graduated the previous summer. However, my team had very strong locker room chemistry and work ethic, and with that, we finished the regular season at 6-3, earning us a spot in the IHSA State Playoffs. Our playoff run lasted further than anyone predicted, as we made it to the semifinal game. Unfortunately, we were blown out by Cary Grove High School, another Chicago suburban superpower, by a score of 41-7, to end our season one game shy of the State Championship game. I remember I was absolutely crushed after that game. I felt very numb in the locker room and shed tears knowing that there would be no trip to the big game, no championship parades, and no trophy awarded to my team that worked hard just to make it this far.

It was a week later, when our rivals, Stevenson High School won their division's State Championship game. After watching our biggest rival win it all, that was when I told myself that I would work harder than I ever had before to bring the second State football Championship to Libertyville (the first and to date, only, occurring in 2004). I would dedicate my life to making my dream of holding that State Championship trophy at Northern Illinois University come true. Not only did I attend every 6 AM lifting session that offseason, I went the extra mile in the sweaty weight room. I snuck in extra sets of bench press on days when the bench press was not scheduled. But again, my biggest improvements in the weight room came in on the deadlift. I had transformed myself from a guy who could not even lift a 45-pound bar into a guy who could do 8-10 consecutive deadlift reps at 315 pounds and above. In my profile test in May heading into June lifting and July camp, I got one solid deadlift rep of 400 pounds in. Much to the impression of my teammates and coaches. But, after evaluating my play during my junior season, I knew I had to work on something else. To become quicker off of the ball, I worked out multiple times a week on an agility ladder with my new cleats on, performing various quickness drills done at our June lifting sessions. Additionally, I found a clinic run on every other Saturday made for offensive lineman performance about 45 minutes to an hour away from my house. Since I was not in any other sports, I got myself up early on a few Saturdays and drove myself out to those clinics. There, I learned better techniques in my game and planned on using them to my advantage for my final football season. On top of that, I worked on improving my technique in run blocking by getting extra reps in on the blocking sled during special teams segments I was not involved in. With everything I had done, I felt I was more prepared than ever before for football season.

My senior season in 2015 came with high expectations from many. Many of our starters, including our All-State Selection Quarterback and Northwestern commit, Riley Lees would be returning to the team for the season. I knew our team had it in us to make a special run. Not only did we make a deep run, but my senior season was absolutely unforgettable. Sure, I did not become a starter and remained a guy who only got in during JV games and in the fourth quarter of blowouts. But that never downplayed the experience and memories I had that year. Off the field, I rose to become a fan favorite with my school spirit for the team displayed all over my social media accounts. Our rowdy student section was always behind us, no matter if the game was home or away. And my relationships with my teammates just kept improving, ultimately becoming closer with my teammates then ever before. On the field, my Wildcats just dominated. All of our first ten games were blowout victories, which meant I was given extra reps on the field in those first ten games. Then, we won three more tight playoff battles, with our semifinal game coming on a last second victory in which we had to drive down the field throwing into 25 MPH winds and 15 degree weather in a snowstorm. I may never feel more euphoric than the moment when we scored that last-second touchdown in the snow to get us to the State Championship Game.

Our State Championship Game in DeKalb was a very hyped matchup. My 13-0 Wildcats would be taking on another 13-0 team, the powerful Glenbard West Hilltoppers. Defined by each teams superstar, All-State offensive player, this was bound to be a game for the ages. Boy, it sure was. But I had a feeling all week long that my team would win this game. My team won the coin toss, and opted to receive the opening kickoff. Scoring on our first possession to take an early 7-0 lead. After the Hilltoppers All-State running back, Sam Brodner (now playing at Wisconsin) scores two touchdowns to put us down 14-7 in the second quarter, we respond back by taking a 21-14 lead with a couple of minutes to go in the second quarter. But with about a minute left before halftime, the tide started to shift against us. While in the red zone driving to get a two touchdown lead, one of Lees's passes ricocheted off the hands of the receiver and was intercepted, being returned to around the 40-yard line. The Hilltoppers were than able to get another Sam Brodner touchdown with a few seconds left before halftime, but we blocked the extra point, so we had a 21-20 lead going into the half. When the Hilltoppers got the ball to open up the second half, they used many Brodner runs to take nearly 8 minutes off of the clock before scoring another touchdown to put themselves up 27-21. Sadly for us, we would never lead again in that game. With the 3rd quarter winding down, Lees bombed a ball deep into the end zone, only for it to be intercepted. A few plays later, Brodner scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a run of over 60 yards to put the Hilltoppers ahead 34-21. However, we were still able to keep in the game, with Lees throwing his fourth touchdown pass of the game with a few minutes left in the game to cut the score to 34-28. We kicked the ball off to the Hilltoppers again, and did everything we could to stop their dynamic rushing attack. With under two minutes to go in the game, we were forced to use all of our timeouts on defense. The Hilltoppers faced a 4th and 1 at around our 30 yard line. If we stopped Brodner one more time, then Riley would have a chance to drive us about 70 yards to try and win (or at least tie) the game with under two minutes to go. Our plan was for Riley to call his own plays on the ensuing drive. He would not even have to look at our offensive coordinator, Coach Davis for a playcall. The game would be trusted in Riley's hands.

Sadly, my defense was unable to stop Brodner on that cruical 4th and 1. Which allowed Glenbard West to run out the clock on the next set of downs since we didn't have any more timeouts. I remember my eye watering after seeing Brodner cross the first down line and those green and gray Hilltopper jerseys jumping for joy. But then I took three deep breaths and told myself that things are going to be ok. I went from a guy who had never played football until my sophomore year of high school, to a State Runner-Up who worked his ass off to get to where I ended my football career. My football experience brought me more than I could've ever asked for when I began my journey as an inexperienced walk-on to the team. I remember sometime afterwards I remembered something said in one of my favorite episodes of the NFL Network documentary A Football Life. In the episode focusing on Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, it was mentioned how Warner took the Arizona Cardinals on a surprise playoff run nobody expected in the 2008 Season, leading to a berth in Super Bowl XLIII. The Cardinals lost in a heartbreaker during the games final minute. But I remembered how Warner mentioned that when he went to meet up with his family in the stands, they were all crying. Warner did not, and he told his family it was ok. Ultimately, Warner and the Cardinals celebrated a disappointing loss by focusing on all the great things that had been done that year. And that's how I decided to put it. I was still disappointed that I wouldn't be getting the championship ring and trophy I wanted to win for my school very much, but I gracefully accepted our second place trophy. I believed it was well-earned for me to win that trophy.

Many of my teammates shed tears in the locker room after the game, some on the field. Even one of the captains was in tears while on the podium accepting the second place trophy. The locker room was absolutely quiet, with the exception of the tears and zipper bags to pack equipment. So I went around the locker room giving hugs to the guys and told them I love them. I decided that I had everything to be proud of because of how far I made it in the program. Because I was always such an underdog in the program, I felt I had no reason to cry about losing the biggest game of my life. And after about half an hour on the bus ride back home, the silence stopped and things started to get better. We all laughed and talked about all of the memories we made as a team, from winning the games to our silly locker room moments and just about anything else we did together. When our busses arrived back in Libertyville, we still received a police escort throughout the town, and arrived back at the parking lot of LHS with many families and friends of the players cheering us on as we walked off of the bus. By that time, all of the players had smiles on their faces and accepted the praise of our fans. I remember there were some young kids coming in the locker room when I was getting all of my stuff out of my locker, and they just smiled at me and I told them how I appreciated their support. Mickey Finn's, a restaurant in downtown Libertyville, had reserved one of their private dining rooms exclusively for the players and their families for a post-game reception. The parents kept buying us, the players pizzas and cheeseburgers from the kitchen, and ultimately showed the bond we had as a team that will never die. I remember walking up to my quarterback and friend, Riley at Mickey Finn's and giving him a big hug. It was all of my teammates that made my football experience special for me. And I felt I owed it to them at Mickey Finn's to share some last laughs and great memories as a team. Lastly, I will never forget my almost-Rudy moment during Week 2 of my senior year when I was put in on defense late in a 48-0 blowout victory, and almost sacked the quarterback.