Thomas Bell - Before Wooster in 2006 tears ran down my face as looked into the dripping eyes of the seniors. It was not tears of sadness that I witnessed, but tears of passion for this game. Right then I knew that they would be playing emotion and I promised to do the same. This was the last chance we had for a conference championship and play-offs. Football is my love, my life, and my passion. Combine that with a family and the power of passion has no limits. Although, to play with passion, you must understand what true passion is.

The great thing about passion is that it can not be faked and others know if your passion is authentic. Many of us have seen passion expressed externally, but true passion comes from within. It is a build up of emotion and you can not wait to let it explode out once you step on to the field. Passion also possesses its own energy with the ability to spread on to others like a flame consuming everything in its path. The intensity of passion can steadily be amplified providing influence to others. With this kind of passion one is able to conquer great obstacles. When you attack a difficult situation whole-heartedly with passion the probability of overcoming that situation is amplified tremendously.

I believe that passion is an essential component to a championship football team. A family can see through fake passion and this is why it must be real. When passion is real it will inspire a team to become champions. We all have seen passion on every team sporadically, but passion must be constant for us to become champions. With passion teams can come back when there down, overcome “better teams”, and overcome mistakes. Everyone ignites their passion in a different way, but for me it is my love for the game, all the hard work I have put into the game, and for my Wabash Football Family.

To me passion is Frank Knez playing every down like his last, passion is waking up at 5:30 in the morning for an intense work out. So when we march out to the field screaming, “Because Wabash Always Fights”, let the passion flow through your blood.