'The Best Day Of My Life' by Tony Bua

Ten years ago this month I signed my letter of intent to attend the University of Arkansas. As I sat at the table with seven other teammates it was my first glimpse to what the next five years held for me. Every local news station was watching as I jotted the ink to the page and I couldn't help but think about all the naysayers who said this day would never come. It felt so good to prove all of them wrong. As the largest smile I can ever recall ran across my face as John Curtis Jr., my head coach and a former Hog, and I called the Hogs. I will never forget the feelings that ran through my head that day along with the sacrifices that my family and I endured to make that day possible. It was quite simply the best day of my life. Four years before that day ever arrived I was living in Liberty, Texas, population 7,500. Liberty is located in a rural part of southeast Texas roughly 50 or so miles away form Houston. As a freshman I was 5' 9 and 155 pounds playing running back and linebacker on the JV squad. Ever since the age of three I wanted to be a running back for a major division one college program. The last four games of the year I was brought up to the varsity squad as the starting wide receiver. I ended the season by catching four passes for 57 yards and 1 TD. Going into my junior year I was 5-11 and 190 pounds. Much different than the little freshman playing wide receiver, I was now the starting running back for Liberty High School. I was only getting recruiting letters from small schools around Texas. Even my 1,200-plus yards, 20-plus touchdowns, and 110 tackles two years in a row were not getting me noticed by any large schools. A family friend had a relationship with Mack Brown, the head coach at the University of Texas, so I went to Austin and brought him my recruiting tape. I got a chance to sit down and watch it with him one on one. As the last play flashed across the screen, Coach Brown looked at me and said, "Son, I think you would be better served looking at smaller schools." My dream was to be a running back for a major Division I college and I knew I could. My parents decided if my dreams where going to come true I needed to be in a more dominate high school program. That summer we packed up our house and moved to New Orleans. My first day of practice at my new school John Curtis Christian I was informed I wouldn't be taking over the running back position, instead they wanted to see if I could back pedal. So off I went trying to prove I could back pedal, I can only imagine it was a sight to see, I fell down every time I would reach about ten yards. Coach Curtis told me at the end of my first practice that if I wanted to see anytime on the field it was going to be as a safety and that I better get practicing my back pedal. All summer all I did was back pedal, I mean I back pedaled everywhere - supermarket, hallways at school, on my grandma's tennis court, if you saw me, I was back pedaling. Most of you know the rest of the story from there and are now sitting where I was ten years ago. When I talk to young high school athletes about there intention to play at the next level, they all want to do it. However there are three things the majority of them are missing in the whole recruiting process and if they could just identify these things they would be on there way to achieving their dreams. The first mistake is not starting the recruiting process early. National signing day for football is in February, most other sports it is as early as November. I see kids wait until there senior year to start the recruiting process and I believe it is too late. You should start sending your tapes to your top twenty schools at the end of your sophomore year. That way you are on the radar and they can watch you over the next two years. The second mistake is not taking your future into your own hands. At the end of the day it is your education, your career, and your future that is at stake. Most high school coaches are not going to be your public relations consultant. You have to be pro-active and sell yourself to these coaches. My fiancee's father retired from his job and single handedly took Ashley's future into his own hands. He called coaches weekly, sent them her recruiting tapes and then followed up with the coach and made sure they actually watched the tape. His persistence paid off, she had five volleyball scholarship offers and got to attend the college of her dreams, the University of Miami. Finally the last mistake I see made the most is not being versatile. As you see in my own story, I went from being a wide receiver to a running back to a safety to eventually a NFL linebacker. You have to be open to change in all aspects of the recruiting process. Whether it be in making a position move or to keeping your options open to play out of state or across the country. You never know what lies ahead. Always remember to dream big and never settle on your dreams. Tony Bua is Arkansas' all-time leading tackler. Since leaving the NFL's Miami Dolphins two years ago, he has owned and operated Bua's Next Level Training in Rogers. For more information, visit www.buasgym.com.