Children Collect Memories of Football That Shape Their Souls

What We Remember 

“In football, the worst blindness is only seeing the ball.” The late Brazilian writer Nelson Falcão Rodrigues’s line mused on looking past possession of the ball to the game’s place in our collective imagination. As children, we absorbed the idea behind those words and carried it into adulthood—without even realizing it. 

When we first picked up the game, we moved en masse, singularly focused on the ball. Whether we sprinted hard across a courtyard or through an alley, on sand or snow, we recall our friends’ laughter and how the game felt—the sun on our faces and the sting in our lungs.

Less visceral were the lessons: how to lead and to follow. That disappointment can motivate. When to stand alone and when to share. 

Football was never just a moving ball. It was about chasing after our best and having fun along the way. And that, we’ll always remember.