Merry Christmas – And A Short Football Christmas Story

Merry Christmas to all of our Chiefpigskin customers and to all football coaches and their families around the world. Enjoy this holiday season with your loved ones and of course, watch a little football. Speaking of football, I’ll share an old story from my past that illustrates my love for the game.

I believe the year was 1956 – cause I was about 5 years old. My Dad had taken me to a high school football game that previous fall and I guess all I could talk about after that was football. Well, that Christmas under the tree was a box with my name on it – from Santa of course. I opened it up and there inside was a red football helmet (no face mask in those days) a red jersey with white shoulders, shoulder pads, and a pair of white football pants. Oh my gosh! I was pumped. And then, as i held up my jersey it had a big #51 stitched on it. It stood for 1951 – the year I was born. My little brother opened his and he got the same thing except with the #53. Yep, he was born in ’53. We played tackle football in the living room for about an hour.

That was my start to playing football. When the weather would permit, my brother and I would go to the backyard and play football, 1 on 1. When he had the ball he would run around ’til I tackled him. Then I got the ball and ran around ’til he tackled me. I was two years older so I would let him tackle me after running around for about a minute. How long could we play that? Until mom called us for lunch or supper. Now and then our older neighbor, Bernie joined in. That’s where I learned to tackle, not from my high school coaches.

And, speaking of learning, sign up today or as soon as you can for your monthly membership and learn from great coaches that we feature here at Chiefpigskin. Once again – Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Coach L. Albaugh      DBLITY

Coach Albaugh coached high school football in Illinois for 28 years. During that time he coached at every level and on both sides of the ball. He was the offensive and defensive line coach for four undefeated teams and was a defensive coordinator in his last 11 years, twice reaching the semi finals of the Illinois state playoffs.