My son came home this year after practice -
All excited to tell me - he says “Dad - have you ever heard the phrase “knocked the snot out of me” - and I said “yeah” and he says “well - they ran this trap block, and I wasn’t paying attention, and Hurley hit me so hard snot flew out my nose all over my faceguard! It was awesome! I never knew it was really possible!”
Total lineman.
When I was a boy - our coach - well - lets just say this was how he would probably talk to his mom on the phone. But never swear. Best coach and leader - ever. Won our league like 15 years in a row. As wrestling coach - sent players to Ivys - multiple guys every year. Multiple guys out of 8 seniors. An ROTC scholarship - every year.
Your son is definitely a lineman (believe me, I KNOW!). My son likes to say, “Where else can you go, work out, knock some people into the ground and NOT get suspended”. Personally, I think when a lot of boys hit puberty, they have all this energy and strength. I found that football was a way to exert themselves in a group setting. They keep their grades up to remain eligible and watch their P and Q’s in school since a suspension will throw them off the team. Unlike other Freshman, my son was able to walk into school on the first day and know about 100 people just from football (JV and Varsity). The JV emulate the more mature Varsity players, too. I have seen these boys come together in almost a brotherhood of sorts and support each other, tutor each other in class subjects and generally have a good time. My son’s coach checks on each of his players grades each day. I hate to say it but I don’t check on it every day.