In August, we bring a set of new full-time writers to the blog. Today, please welcome Izzy Nunez (’22), who will be writing for us on the 28th of each month. Izzy graduated from Calvin in 2022 after studying graphic design and sociology. Today she lives in Durham, North Carolina where she is a graphic designer for Duke University. She is growing to love Durham and all its southern charm even if she complains that its breakfast choices aren’t as good as they are in the Grand Rapids.
I never thought I could say, at twenty-four, that I am a retired women’s semi-pro football player. Please note that my mother also never thought I’d be saying that. But when I saw they were holding tryouts in September of 2022, I had to see if I could make the team. Little did I know that the Grand Rapids Tidal Waves would quickly become a safe haven for me—an oasis from a job I was starting to resent and a growing stalk of self-doubt.
Tryouts and practices were brutal, filled with wall sits, push-up contests, a forty-yard dash, and so many drills. Having never touched a football before and having little knowledge of the rules, I showed off where I could, and that was only a few places. I found out I was terrible at being an offensive lineman and hitting. I couldn’t crack the physicality of it; nothing was clicking. But fast forward a couple of months. Self-doubt was winning, and quitting was on my mind. But my favorite day in my eight-month career was the day I got my shit rocked.
Practice was slow, and Coach was frustrated. Folks got caught in a snowstorm, so we missed most of our team. It’s tough to run through much of anything without a large number of the team. But Coach wanted to go through a couple defense drills. For that, we’d need a running back to hit.
Enter me, one of the rookies.
I’m still unsure why she threw me in. I’m leaning towards, “as a joke,” I think. Until then, I had touched the gloried football a handful of times. At practice, I was typically getting yelled at for messing up the cadence or false starting. But today, I was lined up next to our revered quarterback, the key player who leads the team’s offensive plays. She was an All-American with a list of accolades. It didn’t help that I thought she was cute.
I did not want to mess this up.
My toes lined up with the wide receiver about eight feet to my right, and I aligned my feet with our quarterback to the left. I heard the whistle blow. I ran the route we discussed seconds before on the least white whiteboard I had ever seen. Panic started to set in because she left the ball cradled in my arms instead of pulling it from my hands and throwing it to the plethora of OTHER options she had wide open. Why did she leave the ball with ME?!
I almost puked.
But something wild happened.
I passed through the gap the O-Line created for me. I met the second line of defense and my feet stuttered, spun, and carried me with an agility I was not used to. I danced around players with a familiar confidence I had in soccer when I would dodge defenders and take the ball forward. Or it was more like basketball when I would dribble my way out of a trap. Now this was a cadence I could get into.
WHAM!
An outside linebacker’s knee found its way right into my stomach. I crashed on top of her, momentum pushing said knee to mingle with my insides, feeling like death, still clutching the football. I think I swallowed a handful of those rubber turf pellets, rolling around a bit and muttering every curse word I know under my breath draws a crowd.
“Rook, are you okay?”
“Hey, Nunez, you need a minute?”
“Oh shit, another one goes down.”
My colon felt like it was in my spleen, but I opened my eyes and squinted at Coach, who was kneeling in front of me. I whispered, “If I had eaten anything today, it would be all over this turf.” She let out a laugh that echoed across the field, I think, primarily out of gratitude for me not dying. Everyone started to cheer. I got pulled to my feet. I felt like I was in every sports movie known to man. The quarterback slapped the top of my helmet once I am vertical, which might be on my list of top five greatest feelings of all time. My fellow O-Line was cheering at my triumphant return to the land of the living. I got clap after clap on my back and helmet.
Confused, I asked, “Why are you cheering?”
“Because. You got up and made it farther than we ever thought you’d go.”
We reset at the line. A smile never left my face as I took hit after hit. I finished practice at the running back spot—truly, I don’t think I have ever been more sore. I found purpose in protecting the ball, carrying touchdown dreams, and doing my best to make some magic play happen. I liked the chance to be a little bit of a wildcard. I think my teammates liked it too.
Izzy Nunez graduated from Calvin in 2022 after studying graphic design and sociology. Today she lives in Durham, North Carolina where she is a graphic designer for Duke University. She is growing to love Durham and all its southern charm even if she complains that its breakfast choices aren’t as good as they are in the Grand Rapids.
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I AM SO STOKED YOU’RE WRITING HERE IZZY! What a way to start your tpc career!