Football is My Escape

By: Lake McRee

The lights come on. 

The fireworks crackle.

One hundred men charging to get out of the tunnel.

I run down the ramp, hit grass and open sky, take a deep breath and I can tune out everything else going on in the world. For the next several hours everything outside the lines is muted. This is my escape.

I grew up in Lake Travis, Texas, my parents also grew up there, and you guessed it, we’re just a big lake family. I learned how to wakeboard at five, we would spend our weekends at the lake, and even now, when I go home I spend as much time on the lake as I can. 

The lake is where you relax. It’s an escape. Now, there’s certainly nothing relaxing about football, but it mirrors the lake for me in that it’s also an escape. It’s where I don’t have to think about anything else, I can just get away from everything. 

There have been moments over my football career where it hasn’t felt like that. Where I’ve wanted to escape from the trials and tribulations. Having suffered two torn ACLs, one in high school and one in college, there have been more challenging days than I can count. But now as I head into my final season of collegiate football, I’m taking these experiences with me, living in the moment and leading our team. 

It definitely doesn’t feel like my final year. I still don’t feel like the old guy on the team, although there’s no doubt that I am one of them. This offseason I talked to Coach Riley about taking on more of a vocal leadership role and I feel like I’m ready to step into it.

I’m a Trojan through and through, and there has never been a doubt in my mind about staying here and finishing what I started. 

I came back this season because there was still more to be done. After missing part of last year, I knew I wanted to come back and continue improving before pursuing my ultimate goal of playing in the NFL. There have been so many teams that I’ve been a part of here who have been so close, it’s hard to just pack up your bags and leave. We have a lot of building to do as a team this year to achieve our goals, but we have the pieces to do it. 

Both personally, and as a team, I want to have a better season than last year. It’s something I personally aim for every season. I feel it even more going into this season having missed a few games last year. It's hard to appreciate those challenging moments as they are unfolding. My football path hasn’t been without some unexpected twists and turns, but then again, whose isn’t?

Battling through the injuries that I have has taught me a lot about myself. I’ve learned by doing, I’ve learned what I'm capable of on and off the field and how to better get into the rhythm of the game. These aren’t things you learn unless you experience them, and because of that I know everything I’ve persevered through has made me come out stronger on the other side. 

I don’t let the thought of, ‘What if?’ creep into my mind. Especially not while I'm playing.

No one ever wants to experience injury. But that’s just something I leave in the hands of God. I’d like to think I’m a pretty faithful, God-fearing man. When my time in football is done is not for me to say, but until then I’m giving it all I’ve got.

Of course I’d love to play for as long as possible, and I’m taking every step I can to prepare myself to be able to do just that. Because at the end of the day, football is fun. When I’m out there, I don’t think about anything that takes my focus away from the team and having fun. Like I said, football is my escape. 

We’re just at the beginning of the run for this year. It’s all ahead of us. Everything is to play for.

As for me, I’m putting my head down and getting back to work. Working on my craft, pushing myself to develop new areas of my game and pushing my teammates, helping them learn everything I have over the past few years about what it means to be a Trojan so that we can achieve our goals together.

There’s a lot of chatter during the offseason. Now, it’s time to work. I’m ready to get back to the escape.