Bit longer, but definitely worth the read:
My name is Brady Breeze and I attend Central Catholic High School. Last week, I attended Nike's The Opening from July 7-10. The Opening is a skills camp with the top 166 athletes in the country. As the days neared to the start of The Opening, I continued to become more and more nervous. I wasn't nervous because I was scared to play against the players at The Opening, I was scared because I realized I was representing the state of Oregon, my high school, my family and also my future school, the University of Oregon.
I quickly began to realize how many people were counting on me to do well. I knew that I had to prove that the state of Oregon had athletes that can compete. As Day 1 of the camp began, I had to get rid of all the butterflies and just go out there and play. The first day was the Nike Football training combine. I had all average scores until I got a 4.1 shuttle time and a 43-foot power ball throw. My power ball throw was the second-best in the entire camp. Many people watched as I was throwing because they couldn't believe how far I was throwing. I had no idea if a 43 was good or not but I could tell it had to have been pretty good just by looking at people's reactions. My final score came out to be a 110, which is not what I wanted.
After the Nike Football training combine, we had 1-on-1's. I was the only white guy in the whole group of DB's and I also was the only one with a blue shirt. A blue shirt meant someone was an offensive player and a black shirt meant someone was a defensive player. Nike gave me a blue shirt on accident because they had me listed as a QB and not a DB. I'm not sure how many people thought I was a QB but I kept track of how many times I got asked if I was a QB by players and little kids. The final number was eight times. I actually had little kids trying to get me to sign my autograph on the QB section of the player form. I had to take the book and turn the pages all the way back to the end of the book and sign by my name in the 'Safeties' section.
After the 1-on-1's, I was kind of bummed out because I didn't get a single interception or bat-down in any of my reps. I could tell many people were looking down on me and thought I stunk. Especially the receivers. I knew that after the 1-on-1's, I was going to have to prove myself in 7-on-7.
After the start of 7-on-7's, I knew I could hang with these guys. I felt all the pressure leave as I started to get the feel of the intensity of the game. By the end of the first game, I had my first interception of the tournament. I baited the QB and had to jump up and make the catch. Throughout the camp, I continued to get better and better. During the last day of 7-on-7, I had an interception that helped us win the game against team Hypercool.
My 7-on-7 performance proved to people that football isn't always a number's game and more of a game that depends on if you can actually play. The guys that had the best Nike Football training scores weren't necessarily the best players. When playing against the top-five best Nike Football training score guys, they weren't even the hardest guys to cover. They were just really athletic. It's a hard concept to figure out, but it's guys like Danny Woodhead, Wes Welker and even Marcus Mariota. It doesn't matter how many stars Rivals has rated you, what your 40 time is or how many offers you have. It all comes down to how much passion you have for the game.
My overall experience of the camp was amazing. How often do you get to be coached by your all-time hero and NFL Hall-of-Famer Aeneas Williams? How often do you get to meet many retired NFL players and NFL players that are currently in the league? Not many people get the chance to play on TV in front of millions of people. I've prayed about making it to this camp ever since I was a kid, watching it on TV. The camp showed me where I need to be in order for me to excel at the next level. It showed me things I need to work on and things I need to practice and get better at.
Being able to play at The Opening with my high school teammate and future Oregon teammate La'Mar Winston was an experience I'll never forget. Being able to play with Elijah Molden was unbelievable, too. Growing up knowing Elijah and his whole family, and being able to play at the most intense camp in the entire world made The Opening even more fun for me. We got to hang out together and go through this whole experience together. Both Elijah and I have done a lot of 7-on-7 together, but this 7-on-7 was a little different. When we rode on the bus, I would try and make sure Elijah was across from me or at least behind me, and same went for La'Mar, but I usually sat next to my roommate Brandon Jones, so we could talk about our schemes. I tried to keep my eye out for Elijah because he was younger than everybody else and he didn't really know anybody but me. After games, Elijah, Brandon Jones and I would all go to get food together and hang out.
I never talked about it to them but all I could see in my head, was a vision of the three of us playing together at Oregon and always being with each other. Elijah and I share a bond that can be something special. My uncle and his father played together and now we might get to do the same if Elijah decides to go to Oregon. Maybe this time, instead of just making it to the Rose Bowl and losing to Penn State like our family has, we might be part of something better and win Oregon its first national championship. As of right now, all the 2016 commits are on a mission to win a national championship. Maybe they'll find a cool nickname for our generation. A nickname that'll never be forgotten. Go Ducks and God Bless.
Oregonian Link
My name is Brady Breeze and I attend Central Catholic High School. Last week, I attended Nike's The Opening from July 7-10. The Opening is a skills camp with the top 166 athletes in the country. As the days neared to the start of The Opening, I continued to become more and more nervous. I wasn't nervous because I was scared to play against the players at The Opening, I was scared because I realized I was representing the state of Oregon, my high school, my family and also my future school, the University of Oregon.
I quickly began to realize how many people were counting on me to do well. I knew that I had to prove that the state of Oregon had athletes that can compete. As Day 1 of the camp began, I had to get rid of all the butterflies and just go out there and play. The first day was the Nike Football training combine. I had all average scores until I got a 4.1 shuttle time and a 43-foot power ball throw. My power ball throw was the second-best in the entire camp. Many people watched as I was throwing because they couldn't believe how far I was throwing. I had no idea if a 43 was good or not but I could tell it had to have been pretty good just by looking at people's reactions. My final score came out to be a 110, which is not what I wanted.
After the Nike Football training combine, we had 1-on-1's. I was the only white guy in the whole group of DB's and I also was the only one with a blue shirt. A blue shirt meant someone was an offensive player and a black shirt meant someone was a defensive player. Nike gave me a blue shirt on accident because they had me listed as a QB and not a DB. I'm not sure how many people thought I was a QB but I kept track of how many times I got asked if I was a QB by players and little kids. The final number was eight times. I actually had little kids trying to get me to sign my autograph on the QB section of the player form. I had to take the book and turn the pages all the way back to the end of the book and sign by my name in the 'Safeties' section.
After the 1-on-1's, I was kind of bummed out because I didn't get a single interception or bat-down in any of my reps. I could tell many people were looking down on me and thought I stunk. Especially the receivers. I knew that after the 1-on-1's, I was going to have to prove myself in 7-on-7.
After the start of 7-on-7's, I knew I could hang with these guys. I felt all the pressure leave as I started to get the feel of the intensity of the game. By the end of the first game, I had my first interception of the tournament. I baited the QB and had to jump up and make the catch. Throughout the camp, I continued to get better and better. During the last day of 7-on-7, I had an interception that helped us win the game against team Hypercool.
My 7-on-7 performance proved to people that football isn't always a number's game and more of a game that depends on if you can actually play. The guys that had the best Nike Football training scores weren't necessarily the best players. When playing against the top-five best Nike Football training score guys, they weren't even the hardest guys to cover. They were just really athletic. It's a hard concept to figure out, but it's guys like Danny Woodhead, Wes Welker and even Marcus Mariota. It doesn't matter how many stars Rivals has rated you, what your 40 time is or how many offers you have. It all comes down to how much passion you have for the game.
My overall experience of the camp was amazing. How often do you get to be coached by your all-time hero and NFL Hall-of-Famer Aeneas Williams? How often do you get to meet many retired NFL players and NFL players that are currently in the league? Not many people get the chance to play on TV in front of millions of people. I've prayed about making it to this camp ever since I was a kid, watching it on TV. The camp showed me where I need to be in order for me to excel at the next level. It showed me things I need to work on and things I need to practice and get better at.
Being able to play at The Opening with my high school teammate and future Oregon teammate La'Mar Winston was an experience I'll never forget. Being able to play with Elijah Molden was unbelievable, too. Growing up knowing Elijah and his whole family, and being able to play at the most intense camp in the entire world made The Opening even more fun for me. We got to hang out together and go through this whole experience together. Both Elijah and I have done a lot of 7-on-7 together, but this 7-on-7 was a little different. When we rode on the bus, I would try and make sure Elijah was across from me or at least behind me, and same went for La'Mar, but I usually sat next to my roommate Brandon Jones, so we could talk about our schemes. I tried to keep my eye out for Elijah because he was younger than everybody else and he didn't really know anybody but me. After games, Elijah, Brandon Jones and I would all go to get food together and hang out.
I never talked about it to them but all I could see in my head, was a vision of the three of us playing together at Oregon and always being with each other. Elijah and I share a bond that can be something special. My uncle and his father played together and now we might get to do the same if Elijah decides to go to Oregon. Maybe this time, instead of just making it to the Rose Bowl and losing to Penn State like our family has, we might be part of something better and win Oregon its first national championship. As of right now, all the 2016 commits are on a mission to win a national championship. Maybe they'll find a cool nickname for our generation. A nickname that'll never be forgotten. Go Ducks and God Bless.
Oregonian Link
