More than a game
Life's lessons learned
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Views from high school sports from photographer Toni L. Sandys
Crossland freshman Jordan Queen wasn't quite sure what was in store for him last Tuesday when he boarded a bus to FedEx Field. "They said we were going to meet the Redskins, and they were going to tell us a little about life," he said.
Queen and his teammates joined about 800 other area high school freshmen and sophomores in a forum sponsored by the Washington Redskins called "4th and Life."
The program is meant to encourage and inspire high school players to succeed in life beyond the football field. Three players -- Marko Mitchell, Edwin Williams and Will Montgomery -- each gave a bit of their life story and then answered questions from the students.
While the questions ran the gamut from football to music to girls, the answers always seemed to lead back to hard work, dedication, and grades.
"The big message today was your grades," said Montgomery, a guard and a former Centreville player. "You need good grades in high school to get to college. You need good grades in college to get a job afterwards."
Montgomery, a Virginia Tech graduate, said he never really considered playing professionally until well after he was in college. He focused on maintaining a 3.0 GPA instead, the magic number he thought companies wanted before they might hire you.
For Queen, he understands football does not come first. "Your number one priority is grades. If you don't keep your grades up you can't play on the football team in the first place."
He admits it can be hard to balance the two. Especially when school and practice keep him away from home 13 hours each day. Every day, one hour before practice is dedicated to study hall.
"I have to stay focused," said Queen, who takes two honors-level classes. "I have stay on task at school and then I can think about working hard at football."
"It never stops," said Montgomery. "You get out what you put in [to life.] The more you can do the better."
