With the start of another high school football season now upon us I find myself again reflecting on what the game means to me on the 40th anniversary of my senior season.
What high school football means to me is easy, and at the same time difficult, to put into words.
Forty years removed from my final season in 1975, the 2015 season means I’m no longer a kid and there are more fall Friday nights behind me than in my future.
High school football is a bond I share with the teammates and coaches of my youth. It is knowing that I can count on many of those men to be there for me when I need them and that I in turn will have their backs in all the seasons of life.
High school football this year will mean remembering a special teammate and friend that is no longer here to cheer our Gulf Breeze Dolphins or his Alabama Crimson Tide. High school football will be a way to celebrate the bond we shared.
High school football means cheerleaders in sweaters on chilly Friday nights. And bands playing on late into the night.
High school football means watching today’s teammates share the bond I shared with guys so long ago. High school football means brothers on the field and friends for life.
On Nov. 6 high school football will mean my life has come full circle as I cover Crestview at Gulf Breeze in a rematch of the final game of my senior season 40 years ago. That night, as I listen to the Dolphin band play my school’s fight song and alma mater it will mean for a few hours I’m home.
And on that night I’m sure I’ll realize that I can forever be a Gulf Breeze Dolphin while treasuring the ties I now have to the Crestview Bulldogs and Baker Gators.
High school football, whether Dolphin, Bulldog, Gator, Indian, Viking, Eagle or Royal means we are united in a common love for a game and memories of the best Friday nights of our youth.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: DICKSON: What high school football means to me