A foggy, chilly Saturday morning; Silence coats the bus. Road and trees pass the bus, but the people inside don’t notice. All they notice is their brothers inside the bus focusing up and helping each other out.
They are all getting mentally ready for the challenge ahead of them. A small chill covers the field. The bus stops and the players are ready for what happens next. Before they exit the bus, Captain Ralin Lewis tells everyone that he is proud to be part of the team and his desire to win. The players now motivated go out and play their game.
Ralin Lewis is a sophomore who has played football since he was 10 years old, where he played his current positions now, running back and strong safety. He is originally from Florida where he lived and played for most of his life, but last year at the beginning of summer vacation he moved up to Maryland. When he learned what school district he would live in, he found the school and signed up for their football program. “I love the sport. It has always been my passion and I would do anything to play the sport,” Lewis said
Other athletes may believe that everyone who plays a sport says that, however according to his teammates, he lives and breathes the sport. Freshman Erich Mayne has only played one year alongside Lewis, but he has said that he really believes all that. “The first time you see him play and the passion he plays with, you know that a he was meant to play the sport and that he would do anything to play along with his teammates and friends. He would really kill a man just to get to our game and our practice. That is how dedicated he is to the team,” Mayne said.
Freshman Nick Gonyo has also only known Lewis for a short while, but has felt the same effect as Mayne. “Ralin really is the captain of our team. From the moment you see him play or hear him talk about football, it’s really something that gives motivation or a push to have the same drive and passion for the sport,” Gonyo said.
Lewis has the real drive and motivation that makes a football player- or just an athlete in general- great. Football players are a different type of athletes. Students, athletes, and coaches alike all agree that football players live and breathe the sport, not just as a team, but as a family. Their teammates aren’t teammates, but more similar to that of brothers.
Lewis takes the sense of family to heart. “Everyone who I play with are now considered my brothers for life. There isn’t anyone or anything to tell me otherwise. If you can’t trust the person next to you or in front of you, there is no room for you in the sport. You have to believe in the person that he will do his job and that trust can only be felt if you think of each other’s as brothers,” Lewis said.

Nico Arnaiz

Staff Writer