Below the surface of football, it is a game of commitment and relationships, and Ryan McGeever, senior, discovered the importance of his team’s bond.

As a sophomore, he made it into Varsity, and has experienced what it’s like to watch underclassmen be picked on for their position, and what it’s like to treat all players equally and respectfully.

“When the relationships [within] the team is not working well, it shows on the field. My sophomore year, the guys weren’t as nice, and we didn’t do so well that year,” McGeever said. “When you get to know the guys, they’ll listen to your opinion. And I think that has some value, being a returning captain.”

McGeever was a captain junior year, and Matt Lawson, senior teammate and best friend, says that was “unheard of” because the team usually chooses a senior who has more experience on the team.

“Sophomore year, the making fun of and all that [by the upperclassmen], we never took that seriously. When they used to do it, though, we would talk to each other and make sure that we weren’t going to do those type of things to the underclassmen,” says Lawson. “I think from everything that we learned sophomore year, [McGeever] was kind of the quiet guy who no one really said anything to. Then he became a leader because he absorbed everything that was happening and he has turned from a bystander to a leader, in my perspective.”

It’s really important to McGeever that he helps set up a good environment for the team because they spend so much time together, he says.

“His leadership abilities have really improved. He is no longer hesitant and is constantly helping other people directly,” David Proffitt, varsity football coach, said. “Like in weight room, he shows players how to do the exercises correctly.”

According to Proffitt, football has a positive effect in that it’s helped McGeever deal with groups of people who are trying to work towards a common goal, but who also have many different interests.

“You have a group of people that come from different backgrounds, some similar, but their upbringing is different,” Proffitt said. “Now they come together, and they got to go for one goal, so getting them all on the same page is very challenging.”

Lawson says that McGeever works on his relationships by getting to know the other guys more and inviting them to work outs, adding them on SnapChat, or just hanging out.

“We have a pretty funny relationship. He is kind of weird, and a lot of people don’t know that because he is mostly serious at football, but out of that he is a weird kid who is fun to hang around with,” Lawson said. “He’s always happy, never sad, and the SnapChats that he sends to his friends are always weird. Sometimes, it’s ugly faces, and then he’ll send a pic of him with his thumb up and he’ll say,’Have a great day!’”

According to McGeever, the relationships between the players can’t be forced by the coaches, it has to be natural.

“We are still trying to get it closer, especially with the younger kids that we don’t know really well,” McGeever said. “We hang out together outside of school, so the team, itself, is close.”