The Football Brainiacs

It is far too often that the negative situations that some high school athletes find themselves in turn out to be broadcast news, while the positive situations and deeds they perform go unnoticed. I get it, the feel-good stories don’t get the clicks and the sensational stories do.

With that being said, I noticed a tweet this weekend about a community service program that the players down at Allen High School perform and I reached out to EJ Ndoma-Ogar to find out a little more. After talking with EJ for a few minutes, I asked him if he would be interested in writing up a piece that he could share with you, our readers.

I am grateful to say that EJ seized the opportunity and below you will find his story. I hope you enjoy reading it and appreciate the time and effort it took EJ to write that up as much as I did.

 

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Sorry, Sir Charles….. Athletes are Role Models

Ask any high school football fan about Allen High School and you will get the following responses (and much more):
· Home of the $60 million stadium
· Largest high school in Texas
· Dominant on the field with 5 State Championships since 2008, only 2 losses since 2012, and 13 straight district titles
· Long history of producing P5 athletes that continue to shine at the college level. For example Kyler Murray, Bobby Evans, and Lee Morris at OU and Greg Little at Ole Miss

#FACTS on everything you read above. Yes, we are really, really, REALLY good : ).

Ask any member of the Allen High School football team, coaches, and alumni about our program and you will hear the following:
· We are role models to the younger kids that look up to us both on and off the field
· We enjoy taking time getting to know the fans in our community that support us when we do great things on the field but also when we make mistakes off the field
· Don’t take for granted how blessed we are to be in the position we are in and wear the large A on our helmets
· Plan to continue giving back to our communities even after we graduate

One activity that I am especially proud about is our Read with the Eagles Program. Every Thursday morning the team meets early at our field house and we get on buses to travel to the elementary schools in our district. In addition to reading to the elementary school kids, we talk to them about so many other things and let them know we care for them and want to see them successful.

I have been part of the program for 3 years and I often see the kids and their parents at games, grocery stores, or (like last weekend) at my baby sister’s volleyball game. They congratulate me on our victories, but I am truly humbled when they spend more time thanking me and my teammates for the difference we have made in their children’s lives outside of sports.

Many of my teammates feel the same way. It is a piece of what connects us to former Allen Eagle Teams and creates a strong foundation of how we plan to contribute to our future college programs. I was very impressed when I say the pictures on Twitter of Jonathan Alvarez, Tyrese Robinson (offensive lineman at OU from the Dallas area) and Cody Ford taking time to travel to Haiti. You could see the difference they were making by the smiles on the children’s faces.

I know I speak for the Class of 2019 NewWave, when I say we plan to continue the tradition.

BOOMER!

– EJ Ndoma-Ogar, Allen High School Class of 19, University of Oklahoma Class of 23