Real men run suicides

I went to watch my son's scrimmage game yesterday evening. He is a sophomore and plays linebacker. I justsat in my car so not to draw attention to my being there but I knew he saw me pull up. Because of the quarterback throwing 6 interceptions the team had to run after the scrimmage. They formed a line across the side and ran back and forth 10 times. I saw my son with his long, lanky legs running staying in the middle of the pack. As the time wore on I realized he was struggling. When the final suicide was run, he dropped to the ground. As the other team members walked off the field my son stayed trying to gain composure, strenght, and fight the nausea in order to walk off the field. A few minutes passed. A single coach waited and watched him as he slowly got up and walked. As I watched my son stagger to the field house I was proud. He could have stopped. He could have laid down. Instead, he finished. He was the last one on the field, but he finished and he had to pull from deep inside to find the ability to make it. He will make it. He is going to be a leader on that field one day. He isn't arrogant. He is a listener. He isn't the strongest or the fastest, but he has heart. He can be man enough to allow his knees to buckle from exhastion, drop to the ground and wait. For the will, the courage, the inner strenght to straignten out those legs, stand up, and walk off the field. As he walk slowly to my car I was proud. Warriors give everything they've got during the battle, unable to see what others have done, because their eyes are fixed on the final whistle.