Practice intensifies, and Brigid is loving every second of it

	Is a Brigid calendar in the works? We hope so. Photo Courtesy of Brigid Mullen
	RELATED • MULLEN: My life as a student/football player • MULLEN: Football is not just a sport for guys • MULLEN: My life has become a juggling act • MULLEN: Practice begins, and so does the pain

By Brigid Mullen

I never would have guessed there would come a time in my life when I would be standing with four jammed fingers, an ankle brace, numbness down the left side of my neck, and enough bruises on my body to make my mother gasp. That's what football does to you. It makes you insane, I swear it.

Truth be told, though, I feel great. Not only have we spent the last two weeks practicing in full gear, we can finally hit people really hard and not get yelled at for it. (This is not how my mama raised me!) Life outside of football is good, too. I have some modeling dates set up for June (maybe even a calendar) and work and school are both great. As far as the guy situation ... all I have to say is that some boys need to grow up and stop starting rumors! Enough said.

Everyone else on the team seems to be doing well, too. There have been a few minor injuries, but nothing that would keep anyone out for the season. The team goes about the normal daily routine of work, children, or class (or sleeping because they work night shifts); but when the evening comes, it is a whole different story.

Our practices usually start at 6:30 p.m. and go until 9:30 or so. But if you were to drive past our practice field at 6, you would see most of the team geared up and practicing their own technique drills and pass patterns. This is dedication. Our team is very aware that most of us have never played before and that you can never know too much about this sport.

Have you ever been told to crouch down in a 5 x 5-yard imaginary box and then kill someone? I have. And it just happens to be my favorite drill. It's called the box drill and it consists of two people (one offense, one defense) getting into a three-point stance, head to head, and trying to "kill" each other when the whistle is blown. It is kind of like sumo wrestling ... but with clothing. All anyone can hear when the two combatants make contact is grunting and hard plastic cracking together.