#6 It Was Just a Dream

It Was Just a Dream

I didn’t believe in myself to start off. It seemed like my lifelong dream was being interrupted by a different one. I had always been a decent athlete at football, basketball and baseball. But I don’t know if I will ever be as good at basketball as I am at football. I started my Varsity football team as a Freshman and couldn’t even make the Varsity roster for basketball my sophomore year. But what my hometown doesn’t understand is that I love the game of basketball. What do I do?

Here I am, A 5’10 Sophomore from Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. My name is Michael, Michael Jordan. I have four siblings and I am the youngest boy and second youngest child in all. I am quite possibly the best athlete in my family but don’t tell my brothers that. I’ve never been the smartest kid, but I am always the athlete one in my class. That is until my sophomore year when my best friend, Leroy, made the Varsity Basketball team and I did not. Now I did have two phenomenal years as the starting Quarterback for our football team, but I dream was to play professional basketball. The only problem was, my self confidence has officially gone to the bottom now that my own bestfriend is on a basketball team that I did not make. Maybe I should start leading more towards football or baseball, I just do not know what to do…

As my High School years went on, I continued to progress in all three of my sports and it came down to what sport I wanted to play in college. Leroy and I had both led not only the football team, but the basketball and baseball teams to State Championships.

But now I had to make quite possibly the hardest decision of my life. Where do i go to College, but more importantly, what for? Do I go for basketball or football. Leroy was going to Louisville for baseball, but I knew I didn’t want to play College Baseball. I eventually brought it down to two options. UCLA wanted me to play Basketball for them while North Carolina wanted be to be their first two sport athlete and play basketball and football for them.

I had to go with my gut, “I am officially announcing that I will be attending the University of North Carolina but…only to play football.”

Everyone was in complete shock, but my family and friends supported my decision and off to college I went. Now I knew my father would force me to stay in college all four years no matter my NFL Draft stock, leaving was not an option. My Freshman and Sophomore years seemed like a blur for I did not get much playing time because we had five quarterbacks on our roster and Rod Elkins, a white guy that was a year older than me with incredible accuracy, was the for sure starter both years. But the first day of training my Junior Year, Rod got a call from Auburn to play Quarterback alongside the best Running back in the nation, Bo Jackson. That gave me the keys to the starting job and through the next two years I rushed and ran for a combined 8,574 yard and had a total of 87 touchdowns. We however were not a good team defensively those two years and I unfortunately could only take us so far by myself. But I was rank to go fairly decent in the draft and I was just hoping to get picked by the Chicago Bears.

Draft Night came but I was not called after the second round was over. I sat there and waited patiently with my family until the 78th pick by the Atlanta Falcons was up and I got a phone call from a man but not the coach of the Atlanta Falcons. “Hello is this Michael Jordan?”

“Why yes it is sure!” I said.

“Well this is Mike Ditka, the coach of the Chicago Bears, we’ve traded Jim McMahon to the Atlanta Falcons to get you. We think you are the missing piece to this Super Bowl caliber of a team. Congratulations on becoming a Bear.”

“Wow thank you sir!” I went on, “It means so much coming from you.”

My Rookie year was phenomenal, I won Rookie of the Year and The 85’ Bears were on their way to the Super Bowl. We had a solid 15-1 record only losing to Dan Marino and the dreadful Miami Dolphins on a Monday NIght game.

Everything was going so right until I woke up...

“And with the third pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, The Chicago Bulls select Michael Jordan, The 6’6” Guard out of North Carolina.”