Just so you know this is about American football, not the one that most people call "real football."

Not really... I've grown to rather enjoy the US version of the sport.

You mention rugby at the end and your story resonates with my time playing rugby... probably up until a similar age! It's amazing how a single tackle (in my case, an illegal one) acts as a message to go and do something else!

For me, I played Rugby at school (as well as football, hockey and in the summer, cricket and tennis). I was average-good at most of them (excluding tennis) and played for the school team. The rugby coaches highlighted me as somebody to watch... I was small but didn't mind the rough stuff. I played Scrum Half (probably the quarter back equivalent). My dad hated me playing rugby - "do you want cauliflower ears?" he'd often ask.

One of my favourite plays was to throw a dummy pass and go blind side of the scrum - essentially where there were fewer players. On one occasion that I did this, their No. 8 (always the biggest mofo on the team) peeled off and clotheslined me - right across the throat like something from WWF. Completely illegal but that was the day I said "Nah, maybe my dad's right".