I have always loved football. I grew up watching my older brother play it. I went to all of his games from little league to high school. ​I wanted to play so badly while in middle school but the environment just wasn't right for me to join. However when I started my freshman year of high school I planned to act as the football team manager, but after briefly mentioning to the coach that I wanted to play I would find myself out on the field in a pair of cleats. 

          It was not easy, before football I was a diver which was a very different sport with very different conditioning. Severely out of shape, out of breath and dizzy, I was on my hands and knees heaving after running down and back the length of the field in that very first football season. Trying to catch my breath, to stop from crying or quitting I felt a hand on the back of my shoulder pads pull me up to my feet, “there is nothing for you on the ground” he said. What he meant is that there isn’t any more air in the grass than there is when I’m standing up. It is much easier to breathe with your head held high, than when it is buried in the dirt. But those words meant so much more than that, there wasn’t anything for me on the ground, there was no reason to stay still and close to the ground when I could get up and breathe, get up and grow. 

       The Letterman Fund was made to reward students who don't quit when things get hard, who have found family within their teams, who have always gotten back up. We want to show students that their hard work pays off. We want to recognize students who know that there is nothing for them on the ground and celebrate their standing up.