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DEMORRIS LEEThrough all the low points, Freedom High's nine seniors showed pride, a strong work ethic and true dedication.
NEW TAMPA - They were there.
In 2002, when Freedom High Schools' brand new football team went 0-5 in its first season, John Anderson, Eddie Davis, Rodney Holder and Matt Kipp were there.
In 2003, the first official varsity season for Freedom's football program, Sharrick Moore, Corey Singletary and Calvin Smith were there. Though the team went 1-9 that season, they all came back in 2004, including Jamie Sparling and Shane Woolwine, for yet another losing season. They finished 4-6.
But as these nine seniors prepare to play their last high school football game, they all agree that the plight of playing football at a new school has been worth the struggle. Freedom opened its doors to students in 2002.
During the past four years, it has been up to them to set and break the school records, to set the foundation for school pride and spirit.
"Even though the team wasn't that good, we stayed together," said Davis, who recorded the school's first interception and longest kickoff return for 99 yards. "A lot of people were talking about transferring, some quit, but we had the determination and the will to stay with it."
The 2005 season will mark the first time that Freedom's football team reached the .500 mark. In its first four seasons, there have been two head coaches.
But for these nine seniors, the four years brought about a growth that will last beyond the game of football. They all say that it isn't easy to keep playing when everyone thinks you're a loser. But it builds character.
"It was hard," Anderson said. "We were never shown any respect in the aspect of playing football. We were looked at as if we were weak and it was hard to go out there and fight and battle for respect.
"I did it because I love to play football, and I wanted to go out there and prove that my school is going to be a contender in Hillsborough County."
The team's first coach, Jarrett Laws, knew there was something about those first few players. He recalls one of the team's first practices at Greco Middle School. It was pouring buckets of rain and he was ready to call off practice, but the players wanted to stay.
"They had the intangible and that was character," said Laws, who is now the offensive coordinator at Mount Zion High School in Atlanta. "No matter what, they were 110 percent committed and that made it worth it to come to work every day even when we were losing."
Laws went on to recall some advice that was given to him by Hillsborough High's head coach during that first season.
"You can go 10-0 with a bunch of crap birds but if you ever get in a situation where you are losing, you must have character and discipline," Laws said.
"They are the first group I experienced that with, because they had more of both than any team in the city."
On Thursday, a day before Freedom's last game of this season, the team met around a campfire at a local park. The seniors remembered, gave words of wisdom and threw into the fire the things they wanted to leave behind.
Once the fire cooled, the charred remains were put into a jar. The soot will be used on the players' face as war paint during tonight's final game. The remaining burnings will be kept in the jar all summer until next fall. The jar will serve as a reminder of the legacy that was left and the fight that lies ahead.
Matt Kipp has butterflies, because tonight could be his last football game. Sharrick Moore, who often told Laws that he was the best 14-year-old in the county, has the same uneasiness about leaving high school football behind. The same goes for Rodney Holder.
"It's kind of scary, really, because I don't know what's next," Holder said.
For Anderson, Davis, Holder, Kipp, Moore, Singletary, Smith, Sparling and Woolwine, college is likely next. For a few of them, playing football may not be. But the lessons they've learned will be with them for a lifetime.
"This has taught me dedication and not to quit," Singletary said. "There were many days that I didn't think I was going to last that long on the team, but I made it all four years."
Woolwine, who moved to the area a few days before his freshman year, said they all will take with them a new family.
"I didn't know anyone and they are the first guys I met," said Woolwine, whose father is in the military. "I've never lived anywhere more than two or three years and to be here for so long, there is definitely a strong sense of family."
Dedication, character, never quitting, a sense of family. For the nine who have played for Freedom High from the beginning, these are the tools they'll need as they move to their next chapter, beyond the gridiron.
This is the final installment in a regular series that North of Tampa was doing on Freedom High School's football team. To comment on the series "Beyond the Gridiron," go to www.tampabay.com/guestbooks/freedom