Communities are getting into the football spirit.  Friday was the opening night for high school football in many states, and the fields are filled with student-athletes who will use their experiences in high school sports as a springboard to success later in life.

AP Political Writer Bob Lewis, in his article, “Before they governed, they were the boys of fall,” as “a thread that tied together generations of old players and, to varying degrees, molds them as they become bankers, judges, builders, salesman, teachers, governors and coaches.”

Lewis continues by sharing football memories of four of Virginia’s notable politicians – Richard Cranwell, Bob McDonnell, George Allen and Malfourd Trumbo.

Former Virginia State Delegate Cranwell remembers throwing more touchdown passes than anybody in Virginia his senior year at Richlands High School. He went on to play football at Virginia Tech before becoming a lawyer.

Current Virginia Governor McDonnell shared what it was like to be on the opposite side of the field from the 1971 T.C. Williams High School team that inspired the movie “Remember the Titans.” His stats for the game included a fumble recovery, one interception, seven caught passes and Bishop Ireton High School’s only touchdown.

Former U.S. Senator Allen was encouraged by his father, the National Football League coach with the same name, to play baseball instead of football because the career of a baseball player is longer, there are fewer injuries and the pay was better. Lewis noted, “It was advice the younger Allen never took.”

According to Allen, “’the whole school calendar revolved around it [high school football] in the fall, whether you play or not. It’s not just the team, it’s the band, it’s whoever is singing the National Anthem, it’s the high school homecoming dance,’”

Allen embraced what high school means to so many people – a chance to join one another for a little friendly competition.

U.S. Circuit Court Judge Trumbo spoke about how it felt to wear the blue blazer with the Covington High School emblem on the pocket, a white shirt and a blue tie on game day. “’You were somebody,’ said Trumbo.”

The people who played high school football have become more than high school football players, but they never forget the days of being on the team and competing on Friday nights. The stories of Cranwell, McDonnell, Allen and Trumbo are proof of that – while they were successful in their careers as politicians, moments from their high school football days have never left them.

Lewis concludes the piece saying:

“Football involves more high school students than any other sport. The National Federation of State High School Associations says 1,086,627 players participated in 14,048 U.S. high school teams during the last academic year. Who knows what they will one day become.”

Likely, they will become successful men and women in whatever career path they take and that they remember high school football as vividly and positively as those before them do.