Every Friday at Messiah College where I attend, my friends and I play a pickup football game. Just 20 or so of us, a football, an empty field, and a couple of hours to kill. There's always a different group of people who play, depending on schedules and all. However, I have realized that no matter where and when you play, you will normally see the same types of people. These are some of the players you see at every pickup game.
The kid who just wants to throw long every play. I hate this kid. He's normally got a cannon arm, but he insists on throwing the ball long every single play. 4th and 1, he's throwing the ball 70 yards down field into triple coverage rather than hitting the wide-open kid five feet in front of him for a first down.
The big guy. You know this kid. He's 50 pounds heavier than anyone else on the field. He plays on the offensive and defensive line. He's the guy who will get the ball on every goal-line carry and drag six guys into the end zone for the score.
The injury kid. Every single game he gets hurt. Whether it's a sprained pinky finger, pulled muscle, or bruised forearm. It's never any injury you can visibly see, and everyone knows he's faking. He'll spend most of the game watching from the sidelines with a grimace on his face, trying to cope with the excruciating pain.
The tough guy. The opposite of the injury kid. He's the kid who plays the whole game, catches two touchdowns and gives it his all every down. Then afterwards you find out he has a broken wrist or separated shoulder. The next week, he's there again, his arm wrapped up in a sling, but he's not missing a game.
The pick-up running back. This kid never played football in high school, but he's an incredible athlete and could have been All-State if he had. He turns a five-yard screen pass into an 80-yard highlight reel touchdown, breaking five tackles on the way. He ends the game with six touchdowns and you do everything you can to make sure he's on your team the next week.
The talker. All he does is talk. The entire game. And not only does he annoy the other team, but his own team normally hates him because he can't back up his talk on the field. He'll lead both teams in dropped passes, but it's not his fault– it's the quarterback's. Or the offensive line's. Or the bright sun that got in his eyes.
The all-time QB.
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about 1 month ago
Nice article, every single person you listed was at the local game last Friday.
I hate the guy who tells you he'll be there, then when you have uneven teams and you keep saying "just wait, he'll be here soon" he doesn't show up. Then when you ask him where he was the next day, he says "oh sorry I was sleeping" or "I had homework." He rarely shows up, and the few times that he does, he's tired and wants to just be "referee" and then spends the whole game shootin the breeze with some chick on the sidelines.
These are so true. lol
about 1 month ago
Hey, Cody, great article! You must have been at my games. I've played with every one of these guys. Also, how about the guy on a bouncing kickoff everyone's yelling "DON'T TOUCH IT, DON'T TOUCH IT, DON'T TOUCH IT, DON'T TOUCH IT, DON'T TOUCH IT"....and sure enough he tries to pick it up, fumbles it and the other team gets it. Makes you wish murder was legal. POTD!
from about 1 month ago
Yeah you gotta love kids like that. And then afterwards, they don't have a clue what they did wrong.
about 1 month ago
My least favorite might actually be the kid who wants to throw long every play.
about 1 month ago
Great list, but you left out these:
The guy who goes long every play. Especially annoying when you have more then one of these guys on your team and they don't seem to grasp the concept that if they all go forty yards down the field you're basically throwing a Hail Mary every play.
The guy who doesn't play defense. He doesn't care about winning.
and the guy who stops running once you've thrown him the ball. To top it off this guy usually blames you when he stops running the moment you let go and the ball sails 15 feet over his head.
from about 1 month ago
Haha, the guy who goes long every play is the worst. The only time I do this is if I get stuck with you know what type of quarterback....
about 1 month ago
Yeah I hate that guy that goes long every play. But I love the fat kid. Every team has a fat kid, makes the game memorable, usually comes up with a few big blocks or short touchdown runs a game. Great article buddy. And yeah maybe an Eagles article soon..
from about 1 month ago
Yeah man, we got a couple of them here at Messiah. It's good because they always play the o and d lines, and no one else wants to...
about 1 month ago
Nice.
I'm probably the all time QB. Lol.
Yeah today I played a pickup game and threw like 9 touchdowns for one team and 7 for the other. Lol.
from about 1 month ago
Haha. Yeah, well you play QB. If the all-time QB sucks, that's a pain. If he's good, it's not that bad...
from about 1 month ago
Yeah I'm pretty nice at it. I threw 48 yds the other day. I thought my arm was gonna fall off.
about 1 month ago
i feel like i inspired parts of three of these... the high school starter, the tough guy, and the player-coach... just a guess
about 1 month ago
haha i think i'm a couple of these. and i have at least one friend who does every one of these. hate it.
but good stuff.
you go to messiah? I have a couple friends from HS who go to Messiah. You know Colton Reitz? big kid, about 6'6", played bball at my HS.
from about 1 month ago
Yeah man i know of him... He's a year older than me.
from about 1 month ago
I go there also...we're identical twins....bob, do you know max gola, matt bailey, joe bues, justin erickson, rachel fontaine, emily froelich? any of those?
from about 1 month ago
haha no dude, i dont know any of them. i don't go to messiah. it's way too... christiany for me. i go to Div. 2 Kutztown not too far from there. i only know colton because he played bball at northern lebanon, where i graduated from HS.
about 1 month ago
cody, good one. i enjoyed it. you hit the nail on the head. these guys are usually there, but you gotta love them anyway, because they make the pick-up game what it is.
i have one to add, the guy who wants to kill the guy with the ball each time. it can get a big old, but again, he makes the game interesting. sometimes i'm that guy.
i also pride myself in being the guy that just wants to play. i'll do anything, within fairness, to make my team win. you need me to decoy all game, i'll do it. you need me to go deep, i'll do it. you need me to break a guy's arm...well, like i said, within fairness. i'll at least try to make him think twice about wanting to catch the ball next time.
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