Ain't that a kick in the head...

Have you ever been unconscious? I have—four times.

The first time, I was playing street football with some guys at my friend Gordon’s house. I must have been about ten. When we played football, we didn’t do much in the way of strategy. We’d huddle up before each play and the quarterback would say something like, “get open and I’ll hit you.” (Are all little boys this unsophisticated in their play-calling or did I just hang out with a particularly pathetic crowd?)

On the day in question, I was playing receiver. I remember getting open on a little crossing pattern, and looking back at the quarterback as I ran toward the curb. As he spotted me and delivered the ball, I remember rehearsing my actions in my mind: clean catch, quick spin, head down, run fast! I remember making the catch. I remember the making the spin. I remember putting my head down, starting to run, and then… nothing. The next thing I know I’m on my back in the grass by the side of the road. The guys are standing around me in a circle, just staring at me.

It might surprise you, as it did me, to learn that though we were playing “touch” football, I was hit—tackled, in fact… by a blue Volkswagen van. Now I’d like to say the van was responsible, but as it turns out it was legally parked.

I’d made my catch, spun my spin, put my head down, and plowed right into the back of the damned thing. I must have hit it pretty solid because I was out for several minutes—enough to give the guys quite a scare. They had the good sense to drag me out of the street so I wouldn’t get hit by a car. Apparently they spent the rest of the time debating just how much trouble they’d be in if the fetched a grown-up. They were pretty relieved when I woke up.

You’d think such a bonehead move as running head first into a parked van would make me the butt of jokes and lower my stock with the guys, but it had entirely the opposite effect. How many ten year olds have knocked themselves out? I was tough. And I was tougher still because of the large dent I’d left in the back of the van, and because of the matching bump on my head.

But the thing that made me the toughest in the eyes of my friends, and the thing of which I am the most proud today, is that I never let go of the football.