I was able to catch the last few minutes of Logan's football practice on Friday. I saw him in a practice jersey with the number 80 on it. I was a little bit afraid that he had been moved to tight end, but after looking around, I think the numbers on the practice jerseys don't mean anything.
Nothing wrong with tight end, but he's done so well at running back, I was hoping he'd get a chance to play it. I had pretty much resolved myself to just be supportive about whatever position he got, and as I was walking away, his coach said hello and asked if I was Logan's dad.
He said he plans on playing Logan at halfback and fullback. That was good news. In the sprints at the end of practice, Logan was moving pretty fast. Looked like he was one of the 3 or 4 fastest kids on the team.
I told the coach that Logan would probably enjoy time at either position, though he takes special pride in playing fullback. He obviously envisions himself a Larry Czonka type, versus a Walter Payton. Still, I think he can do well at tailback, too.
Logan said they haven't done any defensive work, yet, but I'm sure he'll impress the coach and end up playing linebacker again.
So, football is all good news. His team bought new helmets. So, I won't be buying him a middle school helmet, I don't think. I did give him the gel pad cover to try and prevent any more concussions. I still have very serious reservations about him playing football now that we know so much more about head injuries, but not only is this his favorite sport, but it's probably the one he's the best at.
Even during his very first year of tackle football, it was obvious to a great many folks that he was a game-changer when he was on the field. He's a great mix of speed, strength and size. You really need all three in football.
On the baseball front, just as I was ready to have him play rec baseball next year, his old team called and said they'd love for him to come back. I discussed it with him and he'll be playing travel ball again next year. There's only 2 more years of this until High School starts. To be honest, I am ambivalent about travel baseball. All in all, I wish it didn't exist, but it does. I think there's good and bad in it, and I'd be just as happy with Logan playing rec.
The thing is, this team probably is the baseball team with the highest number of Logan's good friends on it. He's got 3 other very close friends on it and they'll probably all go on to play High School ball together.
It's all about the fun. He's got a lot of support on that team and two of the other dads really campaigned for him to come play. Last year wasn't a good year. I have no expectations for next year except that he'll play ball and have fun doing it.
