Gentlemen,
From time to time on this Forum I have mentioned my son Charley Beck. Many of you have met him as he attended Rallies I, II, & III in addition to those many functions we have hosted here in Scottsdale. Charley and I have always been very close as he is an only child and we lost his mom when he was 12 months old. Receiving 100% of the old man’s attention can make life difficult for a teenager but he seems to deal with it pretty well. Charley has always wanted to be a football player but he has a problem. He is a waif, at least as far as football players go. Attending Arizona’s most successful football High School, Brophy Prep, with multiple State Championships and a wealth of talented and massive players, 5’ 10”, 162 lb Charley is 50 pounds shy of the mark when it comes to playing for his school. So we formulated a game plan and four years ago Charley started training with a long snap coach to learn the specialized skill of hurling a high speed, perfect spiral between your legs 15 yards to the punter, or 7 yards to the holder for field goals. It worked, and last year, as a Junior, Charley played as his team’s first string long snap center.
Last year he got to play on national TV when ESPN selected #2 ranked Brophy vs. #1 ranked Hamilton as their national High School game of the week. Shortly after that game, in an ill-conceived and unconventional training exercise cooked up by his coaches, Charley’s right knee was completely destroyed, tearing his ACL completely in half and demolishing his MCL as well. Season over, major surgery to rebuild his knee, 14 hours a day for three weeks lying on his back with his right leg strapped into a machine that kept it moving, keeping up with schoolwork on his home computer, and two months on crutches. Within a month his right thigh had shriveled to nothing, losing over 90% of the strength in his right leg. Seven months of physical therapy were required once he could walk again. He missed his junior year baseball season, spring football, and summer weight training. Only four weeks before the start of this (his Senior year) football season, he was cleared by his doctors to start full contact practice and rejoin the football team.
I did not think he had any chance of regaining his starting position as long snap center. His right leg is still only 60% as strong as his left leg, I didn’t see how he could play with such an imbalance, and I was fearful he would immediately reinjure it. And he is still a twit, starting high school as a freshman at 5’10”, and now a senior and still 5’10”.
But Charley was confident, telling me that he would long snap the football again this season, and that he was determined to earn a spot as one of the 11 starting defensive players. No father wants to crush his son’s ambition, but the only defensive position Charley has shown aptitude for was on the defensive line and he is 4” and 50 lbs too small to play there. So I just kept my mouth shut. My desire for this season was to see my son long snap the football to the end of the season with his legs and his health intact.
Two weeks ago, just before the first game of the season, Charley informed me that he would be starting at right Defensive End in addition to long snap Center. There are 80 kids on Brophy’s Varsity team, and Charley is one of the smallest kids on the roster. I was happy for him but even more concerned about his right knee.
So how did it go? My little boy may have lost most of the strength in his right leg and lost his speed as well, but he certainly hasn’t lost his heart. He played like a man possessed, sacking the quarterback three times, three running back tackles behind the line of scrimmage, and 12 total tackles on the day. His long snaps were all outstanding as well. Brophy wins 30-13, and Charley is defensive player of the game. Game two of the season went much the same way. How cool is that? I am on a continuous high.
I know many of our members have sons playing football, baseball, or other sports, and daughters who participate in cheerleading, gymnastics, etc. Post some pictures, we would like to see them.
Charley is #54 in the photo’s below. In the first photo Charley is the center about to long snap the football to the punter. Note the offensive linemen on punt team are all defensive backs chosen for speed. In the 2nd photo Charley is right defensive end. The left defensive end, #62 is 6’2”, 232 lbs. The 3rd & 4th pictures give you a pretty good idea of how little Charley appears out there. #54 Charley looks pretty small, but he played pretty big. The last photo was taken at Rally I in Detroit, Charley at age 12 with Francesca and MJ, just 5 years ago.
I’ve done a lot of pretty cool stuff in my life, but nothing I’ve ever accomplished has been as satisfying as watching Charley this last couple of weeks. I know most people don’t give a rip what someone else’s kid has done, but I can’t help my self. Go Broncos!
Chip
From time to time on this Forum I have mentioned my son Charley Beck. Many of you have met him as he attended Rallies I, II, & III in addition to those many functions we have hosted here in Scottsdale. Charley and I have always been very close as he is an only child and we lost his mom when he was 12 months old. Receiving 100% of the old man’s attention can make life difficult for a teenager but he seems to deal with it pretty well. Charley has always wanted to be a football player but he has a problem. He is a waif, at least as far as football players go. Attending Arizona’s most successful football High School, Brophy Prep, with multiple State Championships and a wealth of talented and massive players, 5’ 10”, 162 lb Charley is 50 pounds shy of the mark when it comes to playing for his school. So we formulated a game plan and four years ago Charley started training with a long snap coach to learn the specialized skill of hurling a high speed, perfect spiral between your legs 15 yards to the punter, or 7 yards to the holder for field goals. It worked, and last year, as a Junior, Charley played as his team’s first string long snap center.
Last year he got to play on national TV when ESPN selected #2 ranked Brophy vs. #1 ranked Hamilton as their national High School game of the week. Shortly after that game, in an ill-conceived and unconventional training exercise cooked up by his coaches, Charley’s right knee was completely destroyed, tearing his ACL completely in half and demolishing his MCL as well. Season over, major surgery to rebuild his knee, 14 hours a day for three weeks lying on his back with his right leg strapped into a machine that kept it moving, keeping up with schoolwork on his home computer, and two months on crutches. Within a month his right thigh had shriveled to nothing, losing over 90% of the strength in his right leg. Seven months of physical therapy were required once he could walk again. He missed his junior year baseball season, spring football, and summer weight training. Only four weeks before the start of this (his Senior year) football season, he was cleared by his doctors to start full contact practice and rejoin the football team.
I did not think he had any chance of regaining his starting position as long snap center. His right leg is still only 60% as strong as his left leg, I didn’t see how he could play with such an imbalance, and I was fearful he would immediately reinjure it. And he is still a twit, starting high school as a freshman at 5’10”, and now a senior and still 5’10”.
But Charley was confident, telling me that he would long snap the football again this season, and that he was determined to earn a spot as one of the 11 starting defensive players. No father wants to crush his son’s ambition, but the only defensive position Charley has shown aptitude for was on the defensive line and he is 4” and 50 lbs too small to play there. So I just kept my mouth shut. My desire for this season was to see my son long snap the football to the end of the season with his legs and his health intact.
Two weeks ago, just before the first game of the season, Charley informed me that he would be starting at right Defensive End in addition to long snap Center. There are 80 kids on Brophy’s Varsity team, and Charley is one of the smallest kids on the roster. I was happy for him but even more concerned about his right knee.
So how did it go? My little boy may have lost most of the strength in his right leg and lost his speed as well, but he certainly hasn’t lost his heart. He played like a man possessed, sacking the quarterback three times, three running back tackles behind the line of scrimmage, and 12 total tackles on the day. His long snaps were all outstanding as well. Brophy wins 30-13, and Charley is defensive player of the game. Game two of the season went much the same way. How cool is that? I am on a continuous high.
I know many of our members have sons playing football, baseball, or other sports, and daughters who participate in cheerleading, gymnastics, etc. Post some pictures, we would like to see them.
Charley is #54 in the photo’s below. In the first photo Charley is the center about to long snap the football to the punter. Note the offensive linemen on punt team are all defensive backs chosen for speed. In the 2nd photo Charley is right defensive end. The left defensive end, #62 is 6’2”, 232 lbs. The 3rd & 4th pictures give you a pretty good idea of how little Charley appears out there. #54 Charley looks pretty small, but he played pretty big. The last photo was taken at Rally I in Detroit, Charley at age 12 with Francesca and MJ, just 5 years ago.
I’ve done a lot of pretty cool stuff in my life, but nothing I’ve ever accomplished has been as satisfying as watching Charley this last couple of weeks. I know most people don’t give a rip what someone else’s kid has done, but I can’t help my self. Go Broncos!
Chip
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