Legendary former head coach for the Seattle Seahawks once said that football is not a contact sport, but rather a collision sport. Though each play may only last a matter of seconds, within that short time frame there are tremendous collisions that take place. It is that pugilistic thrill of witnessing a bone-jarring hit that attracts millions of fans, both men and women, to the sport of football. From the ESPN Monday Night Countdown segment “jacked up” to the countless number of NFL Films specials, the most ferocious hits in both the NFL and College football are both celebrated and often debated. Though I may not have the wealth of knowledge of a Steve Sabol or Ray Didinger by virtue of my age, any time that I participate in such a debate over the greatest hit in the history of football my answer always consists of two words: Brett Womack!
In the fall of 1998, I entered my sophomore year at Cherry Hill High School East. I had the tremendous privilege to have the opportunity to start at nose tackle the entire season. While the team that year did not enjoy the success of many of the team’s in Cherry Hill East’s past, our biggest victory of the season came against one of our fiercest rivals: Washington Township High School. During our school’s “golden era” often times the season came down to securing a victory over the Minutemen in order to advance to the championship rounds of the state playoffs. As such, even to this day, irrespective of either team’s records, when Cherry Hill East squares off against Washington Township, the game takes on added meaning. On that particularly beautiful fall day, we were able to defeat the then ranked Minutemen 17-16. During the second quarter of the game as I was watching our offense move down the field, I witnessed first hand the greatest hit I have ever had the opportunity to watch. Brett Womack, one of our team’s captains, and by far our most talented player laid an absolutely vicious block on one of the Township defenders sending the player flying several yards and his helmet flying in a different direction.
To relive this great play, I managed to track down Brett and ask him several questions regarding the play, football, and what he is up to now.
BH: Brett, it’s great to catch up with you. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions regarding that play. First off, what can you tell me about your recollection of that play?
BW: I remember it like it was yesterday. Myles Tamburrino was our quarterback that year. I was the wide receiver…the play was called…it was a post pattern or something…Myles rolls out…he scrambles and nobody was open!! So he decided to tuck the ball and RUN! I had already ran my pattern, turned and looked for the ball and Myles just happened to be running my way heading for the sideline trying to gain as much yardage as he could before he went out of bounds. I noticed that the opposing team’s linebacker was closing in on Myles trying to tackle him before he reached the sideline…so I raced back and what was meant to be a block to protect my quarterback turned out to be one of the biggest HITS of my career. LOL
BH: Where does that play rank among your favorite of all time?
BW: That particular play was definitely one of my favorites.
BH: What did you love most about playing in high school?
BW: That was a fun time in my life and I was privileged to have played such a great sport with such great teammates and coaches. As a wide receiver I was blessed with the ability to run very fast and catch practically any ball that was thrown my way.
BH: What are you up to these days?
BW: As time passes we grow into men and I have learned to utilize many of my other blessings such as music for example. God has always given me the gift of gab if you will and i use it in my music frequently. My mixtape entitled “The Natural” hosted by Leon Huff Jr. (aka Pop Traxx) was released in the summer of 2010. Basically that project was an attempt to introduce myself to the hip hop world from an underground point of view. Now that I have completed that task I am in the process of releasing the sequel which will be entitled THE SUPERNATURAL. This album will bring peoples understanding of me full circle in relationship with the growth of Lokey “the artist” as well as “the man” and how Gods WILL became my ultimate desire instead of my own will. The album release date will be in the spring of 2011 and it will be entitled THE SUPERNATURAL. The Game aint ready
BH: That’s awesome Brett. Where can we find more information about your music and performances?
BW: To see Video footage of live performances, go to youTube and search “lokeyma” or just check out my fan page on Facebook. Search “Lokey” and it should pop right up…stay tuned world…the best is yet to come.
Brett’s “Lokey” fan page url is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lo-Key/128475193842612?sk=wall#!/pages/Lo-Key/128475193842612