Eric’s first year of playing football began with two and a half hours of conditioning last night, from 5:30 to 8pm. There were probably 200 kids out on that field, a pretty exciting start to the football season. They were back at it again tonight, and there’s more tomorrow night, and again on Saturday. The coaches are working these kids HARD. Eric is eating it up so far, holding his own, but the real defining moment is yet to come – how will he handle getting knocked off his feet for the first time? Come to think of it, how will his PARENTS handle him getting knocked off his feet for the first time? Easy – I’ll close my eyes.

Above: Eric goes after a target for the very first time, and it was sloppy. But the coach shared a few encouraging words with him, and his next hit on a tackle dummy – held by one of his teammates – was squared up and solid, earning him a high five from the coach. Eric’s legs just kept pumping while his teammate was pushed back for a 10-yard loss.

I think it’s obvious this will be the first of many blog posts about football. Yeah, I’m proud.