What makes Reitz Football special to you?

from Zach Tieken, Class of 2003: Friday night in The Bowl was special, but it wasn't my favorite thing about Reitz Football. Those games were special. I'll never forget them, but the games were just a small part of Reitz Football. The games were viewed by thousands of people every week, but it's what everyone doesn't see that makes Reitz Football special to me.

Reitz Football ran deeper than games and practices. Yes, they were challenges. Yes, it was a great feeling to see all that hard work pay off on the playing field, but it was something else that made me love Reitz Football.

Sacrifice. 100 young men that are willing to pay the price. 100 young men who never stop working, on or off the field, for their collective goal. Young men who put in extra time in the weight room, or after practice, or on the steps of The Bowl because they know they need to get better. Young men who will work harder and harder just to get even a little better. Young men who will make the right choices off the field, even though they may be hard choices to make, because they know what their teammates, their brothers expect of them. Young men who care more about their team than themselves.

The starters who DON'T SLACK OFF because they have it made. The bench warmers who will give everything they have and then some in PRACTICES so their team will get better. Coaches who give up their time with their families during the summer and after school and on the weekends. An 80+ year old man who spends more time making sure a football team has all their equipment lined out than he does anything else, because he loves Reitz Football more than anyone else ever could.

This is what makes Reitz Football special to me. Sacrifice. Knowing that you can trust the guy next to you to do his job without asking because you know that he's sacrificed as much as you as you have for him. Reitz Football is more than just a game. Everyone who is or has been a part of it should feel honored that they have had such an opportunity.