You will always remember your last game. I
remember my college coach telling us that in 1989 and not really believing him.
I do now.

No, that isn't me on the right. That is a real football player: Former USC great Reggie Bush.
His last game was a loss in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship to Texas. He will remember that game because it defined the Trojans season. It cost USC the National Title and anointed Texas QB Vince Young as one of the great college football players of all time.

My last game was slightly less celebrated. It was watched by however many people saw USC/Texas minus that number plus 3,000. In other words, about 3,000 people saw it. Only the players remember it.

It was 1989. Dickinson, my school, (my latest shameless plug), hosted Lycoming in the D-3 playoffs. Some of my teammates still think we could have won. I am not one of them. I can live with a 21-0 loss. We were 9-0-1 in the regular season.

But there is no question that the last one sticks out. It is the last game I ever played. No, the NFL didn't call upon this 5'8" 165 lb soft hitting safety. So taking off those pads for the final time after playing football from the age of 8 on was sad. I cried for at least 15 minutes.

That leads to Thanksgiving day football. So many high school seniors around the Nutmeg state will play their final games tomorrow. My advice is simple. And it is taken directly from the words spoken by my coach Ed Sweeney: Leave it all on the field. For most of you, this will be the last game you will ever play. Give every ounce of energy you have. Because you will remember it the rest of your life.

Enjoy your last game, guys. Win or lose. When you are an old has been (or never was) like me it's the friendships and memories that you will remember more than anything else, with the thoughts of that last one mixed in.

Happy Thanksgiving.