Sunday Afternoon Football

Frank: Do you like to play football?
Karl: I never was much count at it. I never did get picked out fer it.
Frank: Me and the Burnett twins and some boys plays down at the junior high practice field all the time. If you ever want to come by and play. We ain’t no good either.

That’s a little blip of a conversation from the movie Sling Blade that always reminds me of a Dutchtown tradition – Sunday Afternoon Football. Around this time of the year, Sundays were the best. Once we got out of church and got some lunch, it was time for football. It didn’t matter if you were any good or not because we needed as many people as we could get. We were so enlightened in those days, we would even take girls. I say that with a grin because the only two girls that would play with us that I recall were Debbie and Sheila Wise. They could dish it out as well as any of us boys.

We would usually gather at our house or maybe at the home of Todd and Trevor Moore, somewhere around 2 o’clock. We had people of all ages. Eddie Wise, who was five years older than me, was bigger, faster, and stronger than the rest of us, so he was the quarterback for both teams. I think he was probably the referee and peacemaker too. That was important because the only thing some of us liked more than football was fighting. If you lived on Jonesboro Road and were a male child, you probably played in one of our games. We would also drag in others when we could. I know Hal Holloway from over toward Flippen played with us some, and the Chaffin boys from Thomaston all made some appearances. I’m not sure how we decided when the game was over, but ties were common, and nobody ever won by any significant amount. Sitting here now, I think Eddie might have also been in charge of keeping the games close. If so, he was clever enough not to give it away.

The great thing about football is the only thing you need for a game is people and a football. We didn’t have any pads or helmets, but I don’t think anyone was ever seriously injured. I’ve got a toe that is slightly off-center from an ill-advised game where I decided I didn’t need shoes. Sure, we had some bumps and bruises, of course, but kids heal quickly. Maybe the best things about those games were the moments we had when we weren’t playing – gathering around the water hose for a water break, talking trash, and just being together. Then kicking back after the game, maybe grabbing something to eat, sitting in the grass and wasting time, too worn out to do anything else – a good tired.

I remember one time, Debbie needed to go home for something, and I walked over to her house with her. While we were there, she asked me if I wanted some ice cream, and I said sure. At my house, that would have meant we got an ice cream scoop and dipped a few scoops into a bowl. Apparently, at the Wise house, that meant you took out one of those half-gallon containers, cut it in half, and threw each half into a bowl. In order to not look like a schmuck, I managed to get the entire quart down. Those are the types of things I remember.

At the end of the movie Stand By Me, the writer says he never had any friends later on like the ones he had when he was twelve and asked the question, “Does anyone?” It’s a good question. Some of those guys that played in those games have already passed away, and even though I may not have seen them in years, the world seems a little more empty knowing they are gone.