Every day of the prep football season, whether at after-school practice or game time on Friday nights, players build an album of memories, one snapshot at a time, without even realizing it. Because they’re teenagers, they’re naïve enough to believe such moments will continue pouring in, and usually they won’t even think to look back until after it all ends.
But four former area stars, each having reached the game’s pinnacle level, have returned to where it all began for them – to the dusty practice fields and cramped locker rooms of high school. It’s where they can now mentor from their own experience. Former Howard stars Terdell Sands and Rico Council, Red Bank’s Gerald Riggs Jr. and Marion County’s Eric Westmoreland have seen their playing days come to an end and are now working as assistant coaches at prep programs.
Each of the retired athletes has agreed to share what makes the high school game so much more special for them and why every player suiting up this season should soak in every moment as they happen – from the community rivalries to cramped bus rides on road trips. They should make mental snapshots to look back on later.
Terdell Sands, a 6-foot-8, 350 pound lineman for the Oakland Raiders, wears a jersey with his number when he played for Howard High School. Mr. Sands graduated in 1997.Terdell Sands
(played at Howard, UTC, NFL; now coaching at Howard)