There is no denying that Boston University is one of the best schools in the nation, but it lacks in one specific area: there is no football team.
I write to you as a student who comes from a football background. I believe football is one of the greatest sports that our youth can play. Growing up playing the game, I experienced firsthand how football can positively change your life.
My high school was very diverse and full of opportunity, but it was also full of a lot of negative distractions. Football was a healthy opportunity that helped my classmates and I escape the crime and troubles that surrounded us every day.
Brockton, Massachusetts, was once home to famous Boxing World Champions Rocky Marciano and Marvelous Marvin Hagler. It has also produced NFL Draft picks and a College Football Hall of Famer. To be blatantly honest with you, without football, I know for a fact that many of my friends would not have graduated high school and made it out of their situation.
Not only did the game impact me in that respect, but it taught me one of the most important things I have ever learned: life is not always about you. Life is about the person next to you and how you can help them to succeed. If we all band together with that mindset, there is nothing that we cannot do.
Players tend to learn this when there is a man on the other side of the line trying to smash your teeth in. The game taught me to have my peers’ backs. It taught me how to be responsible. Football helped me grow as a man.
This is why I was so disappointed when I learned Boston University no longer had a football team. This only comes to me as a surprise when I look outside of my window I see that we fund, for example, lacrosse and field hockey teams. Football is one of the most popular sports in the nation. Having a football team at BU would bring in much more money than lacrosse and field hockey.
But putting together a football team would be a daunting task. Between finding about 85 players and several coaches to lead them, you may think this would be impossible. In building our football team back up, we would have to wait many years to be competitive again, but it would happen.
For example, take a look at the University of Connecticut, who joined Division 1 football in 2002. They were, and still are, struggling compared to tougher opponents such as Notre Dame and Michigan.
But they continue on, keep fighting, recruiting and spending money to make their programs better. You can bet that within 10 years, those programs will no longer be the joke of the NCAA.
Granted, we would have to sit through many years of poor teams that would be pretty tough to watch. But this would not be a short-term investment. It is a long-term investment that would make both the students and alumni very happy.
It seems as though every student that I have talked to would be ecstatic if our beloved university thought about bringing back our football team. It would give students something to do on Saturday afternoons and would pull in a lot of money from tickets.
Most importantly, if we were to bring back a football team, it would inspire the inner city youth. Northeastern no longer has a football team, so we would be the closest school to many youth in the Boston area that would have a team.
I can tell you from experience, going to a Patriots game inspired me to play quarterback. Many of my friends had the same experience when they saw their first Brockton High game as little kids. Football is something that can make a lasting impact on one’s life and teach life lessons that aren’t always easy to learn.
Obviously, Boston College has a team. This is something I hear about every Saturday in the fall, thanks to having friends that go there. The rivalry between our school and theirs would be amplified if we brought another sport into the mix. Wouldn’t it be great to beat up on BC in something other than hockey?
My main point here is this: I believe if Boston University were to think about bringing the football team back, many would be happy. Football brought so much joy to my life and the lives of others. It is something that teaches you life lessons that you will take with you forever. Saturday afternoons would be infinite times better if we were to bring it back.
