Garrett Eagan
Sports Editor
Coming into this school year, I thought I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I had centered on covering, talking, or broadcasting sports. My aspirations for an NFL-type career are realistic, and I know it will take awhile, but I had no idea my first taste of NFL writing would come so soon.
As a large contributor and fanatic of the Washington Redskins, it is only natural that I would attempt, in some small way, to become a part of the Redskins. Obviously, it would not be on the field. This pre-season, I had gotten ahold of tickets to the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio with some friends. The Redskins were slated against the Colts, and to sweeten the deal, I had never been in the Hall of Fame. I was able to meet Chris Cooley at the game, get an autograph, and lightly chat with him along with the rest of the Redskin faithful.
The next day, I blogged about the experience on the Free Press website. After some detective work, I managed to get Chris Cooley’s email and send him a link to the blog. Much to my amazement, he emailed back, applauding the blog, and even more astonishing, asking if I would be interested in writing for his blog. We have been emailing each other back and forth since the beginning of August, and I hope to have a sit-down conversation with him sometime in the future. My blog was posted on his blog, and the readers who usually post comments, applauded my writing, with one even saying, “Keep the Guru coming..” This season, I will be writing weekly takes on the Redskins for his blog. Hail to the Redskins, and to my entries on Cooley’s blogosphere. The Free Press is even linked under Cooley’s “Cool Sites.”
I may not get paid for it, I may not get to actually be on the Redskins website, but this is a great experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. Anywhere from getting an autograph from my favorite NFL player, to having him actually email me back, to having him read my Free Press blog, are the moments that will stick with me forever.
I owe everything to the Free Press. If it wasn’t for Mike Habegger and Lisa Breslin, the two people who gave me a chance to express my views both in print and on a screen, this experience might not be possible. Those of you who are on the fence about writing or contributing to the Free Press, this is a reason to get involved. Hopefully, this experience will lead into something else, or someone of importance will be reading it.