You're joking, right! These "young men" are anything but fragile. You must have been so excited by the "changes" that were made 2 years ago, that you either didn't know or didn't care how all the players felt about what went on. Did you know that the entire team was going to refuse to play in 2008? Did you know that a small group of Varsity (then) juniors and a few sophomores met off campus to discusss what to do about the situation? Did you know that this group, who would be the leaders of the team in 2008 decided to play because 1. THEY LOVED THE GAME 2. They loved playing for their school 3. They wanted to set a good example for their teamates and 4. They wanted to show their departed coaches that they were not quitters and that they would continue to work hard, play hard to the best of their ability and continue to exhibit the discipline, respect and good sportsmanship that they had been taught by those coaches.
"They shouldn't care" whether or not their student peers, parents, alumnae and supporters of Sequoyah Football appreciate their efforts, win or lose? Has it occured to you that they play as a TEAM for School PRIDE and SPIRIT (this is Friday Night Football country after all!), not just for an individual desire to have the most running yeards, passing yards or tackles. Do you go to these games? Have you ever seen these players exhorting the crowd to stand up, yell, and stamp their feet by waving their arms in front of the stands? They don't do this because they want individual accolades. They do it because they are pumped up by a good play, a touchdown or the need for a goal line stand and yes, the players on the field and the sideline hope that some of their "love of the game" will be supported and acknowledged by the fans. It's pretty hard to play all out when the fans don't respond to the band playing or the cheerleaders cheering or get excited about any play on the field except for a long run or a touchdown or a quarterback sack. Would you play an individual sport, let alone a team sport where nobody cared how you performed?
The entire Sequoyah community should be PROUD of this team for going out on the field and playing hard and with the hope of winning every week, loss after loss after loss. By the end of the season, all this team wanted to do was beat Sweetwater. Unfortunately, even that didn't happen. You may think this team didn't have much talent, but they did have CHARACTER amd TEAM PRIDE. They DO CARE and to call them FRAGILE is just plain insulting!!
And yes, my son is a senior and I couldn't be more proud of him, even if the team had won all of its games.