Posted 8-03-09

"Jimmy Raye Event Paul MacKenzie's Pictures"

click here to watch photoshow

Posted 8-03-09

"Huddle Up"

Gridiron Family-"Huddle Up"

Steve Young, the Super Bowl Quarterback of the San Francisco 49’ers once said that the one thing he missed most about Football was “The Huddle”. He missed the feeling of “team”, the togetherness, the idea that unless the “team” worked together, sweated together, came together, that there was nothing they could not accomplish together. That by the very nature of “The Huddle”, men arm and arm, standing together, huddling together, getting the play and then breaking to execute the play, “The Huddle” was an idea way of approaching life.

Steve Young once said that it would be his hope that just once a day, a family, a community, a classroom, a group of politicians, a corporation of business leaders, people at work…..could just huddle. Check the play, agree to terms and then embrace as one and go out and execute the play. Advance the ball as one, as a team, as a unified forces all working together to accomplish the goal. Steve Young went on to say, “For all those people who have never experienced “The Huddle” wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing to experience what one can achieve if one works together with others and approaches life just like “The Huddle”

I found this so poignant. It really sums up the wonder of football. For most grown men, there are only a few years in which we get to play the game of football. For 90% of us, this ends on our last Senior Game in High School. We will never ever experience neither the wisdom of such remarks nor the physical connection of our teammates, our coaches and our game plans. Some of us, take these lessons and apply them to our lives, but none of us truly will ever experience “The Huddle” mentality once those days on the gridiron our gone. Steve Young is right. All of us would be much better off if we just “huddled up” once a day, once a week, once a month. Can you imagine the camaraderie and the sense of accomplishment we would sense working together as one.

So, families, communities, friends and co-workers “huddle up” and let’s begin to understand how the precious moments shared on the playing field can truly apply to our daily lives. And, for you young men still able to experience “The Huddle”…don’t let it pass, don’t take it for granted, cherish it, honor it and keep it apart of your lives in all that you do. Family problems?-Huddle Up, Community Problems-Huddle Up!, Political Problems?-Huddle Up, Work Problems?-Huddle Up!, Church Problems-Huddle Up!, Relationship Problems?-Huddle Up!.

Like Steve Young said, “huddle up” come up with the game plan, put that game plan into action, and break from the huddle and apply it to your day, your week, your life. Rams….and the Ram Community time to enjoy and “huddle up!”. Together there is nothing that a “TEAM” cannot achieve.

T-Together…E-Everyone…A-Achieves…M-More!

“Huddle Up!”…God Bless…Dr. T

Posted 7-14-09

"Jimmy Raye Youth Foundation Day 2009"

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Posted 1-21-09

Football in the Off-Season

Now that our High School Football season has come to a close, what is next? In my day, we played basketball or we got ready for wrestling. In the spring, the cool air and warmth of summer would welcome us to the Baseball Diamond. We enjoyed all sports and each one of them was unique to their skills, their training and their fun. I know today, we have become much more “specialized”, even on the field there are just defensive players and just offensive players. I would have welcomed that change back in my day. We never seemed to come off the field.

Off seasons now are consumed with weights and running and off season training. I often wonder if the “sprinkle” down affect has come to High School Sports. Has the intensity spread from the Pros to College to High School? Only a very small percentage of men will ever get to play in the NFL. This is important to realize. Only very few people will get that chance. For most, a chance to play in college in Division I, II or III may provide some benefits to college education and some enjoyment, but it will never rival the sense of community and fun it does in High School.

My message in the off season is simple. Enjoy your life, enjoy your High School days, and don’t give up your enjoyment for other sports, simply over winning and losing on one field. Your athletic ability and training is improved by playing basketball or wrestling or track or baseball. You hand to eye coordination in hitting a baseball is as important as your ability to catch a football. But, more importantly, ENJOY your High School days, your coaches, your friends and your fellow students.

I know coaches want you to be the best that you can be, and unfortunately time passes by so quickly that we forget to enjoy the moments. Wins and Losses come to us all in football as in life, the important part is the ability to enjoy both, celebrate victory and learn from mistakes but never let it get you down. Enjoy your teammates, your coaches, the game and all that it brings to the spirit of your life. Carry that in the off season, enjoy your off season and enjoy your days in High School.

See you next fall on those sidelines.

Dr. Tyler Nelson

Nelson and Nelson Chiropractic.

Posted 11-13-08

“Friday Night Football”

A lot of what I am I can attribute to Friday Night Football. There is a direct link to my chosen profession, chiropractic, which goes directly back to High School Football. When I was in High School, one of my coach’s best friends was a chiropractor. No one at the time, 30 years ago knew anything about whom or what a chiropractor was. He was the first chiropractor in our town. As a friend of our coach and as a new practicing chiropractor in our town, he had the time and spent a lot of time with our football team. Many of us would eventually go to see him for our own aches and pains, neck and back pain. I thought he was probably the coolest doctor I had ever met. I was also surprised that he did not use any needles, did not prescribe any drugs, but used his hands to work on our necks and back and help us with all sorts of aches and pains.

Thus, became my interest in his profession. I thought it would be equally as “cool” to become a chiropractor some day. To this day, I am friends with that coach and all my high school football coaches. I have known my Vice Principal from High School for many many years and we remain close friends. To this day, my high school football coaches get together every Monday Night to watch Monday night football and to discuss old times and to renew old friendships. Although, I now live many miles away, I still maintain those friendships, still hold my own annual reunion here in North Carolina, and still to this day, call upon their wisdom, their knowledge and their friendship after all these years.

My Vice Principal was of equal if not more importance. He was more than just a teacher. He was a role model, a friend, a mentor who taught me some of the greatest lessons in life. He taught me how to treat people, he taught me from observing his example of how to reach out to people, to have a sense of caring but also a good sense of humor and to never take yourself too seriously. As a young man, I was always in awe of how my Vice Principal did not treat me like a kid, like someone who knew nothing, but saw me as an individual , a person a young mind who could be inspired to achieve great things.

Yes, High School Football is not just something that I was lucky enough to sponsor. It was something that is much deeper to me, much more important to me, and something I try to help cultivate those same sound lessons to other young people today. The same great lessons and experiences I was fortunate to have from my coaches, teachers and principal.

Dr. Tyler S. Nelson

Nelson and Nelson Chiropractic