Missant Diary: Lifetime Memories for a European Champ
Frankfurt* Galaxy center Charles Missant has written a weekly diary for NFLEurope.com throughout the 2006 NFLEL season. In his final diary of the season, Missant celebrates the World Bowl win that he and his teammates achieved against Amsterdam on Saturday.*
This is the World Bowl Championship Diary. It was great to celebrate our 22-7 victory against the Amsterdam Admirals. Obviously, it feels great to win a championship, especially since I've never been in this position before. The feeling really hasn't sunk in yet. Just to see the culmination of all the hard work that we have put in since training camp in Tampa is a wonderful feeling. We achieved our main goal, and that's pretty tough to do. You don't get many opportunities like this in life.
To win a ballgame like that against a good football team was great. To do it for the fans, my teammates, and my family, and the New York Jets, it felt great to represent all those different people. It was quite a feeling.
We started of a bit slow in the first half, but our defense played great and kept us in the ballgame. Our offense finally turned it on in the second half and we finished the game with 269 rushing yards, which is unbelievable. As an offensive line, the game plan is to go in and help your guys run the ball well, but to run the ball for 269 yards is incredible. Roger "Rabbit" (Robinson) and Butchie Wallace ran the ball great. Coach Whitey Jordan and coach Mike Jones kept calling the run plays. I remember being out there for a 19-play drive and we were all tired on the offensive line, but when we looked over at Amsterdam and saw them huffing and puffing with their hands on their knees, we knew we had a game on our hands. We wore them out. The coaches kept putting the game on our shoulders, as an offensive line, and we crave that feeling.
The clocked ticked down and I grabbed the huge Galaxy flag and started waving it in front of our fans. It was a surreal feeling. The fans have been fantastic all year. Just to see them celebrate with us was great. This victory was for them too. We doused all of the coaches with Gatorade, and our whole team was hugging each other. We've been through a lot together, through the good times and the bad times. We've been through a lot of adversity, and to overcome things like that truly shows the kind of team we have.
When we made it back to the locker room after the game, everybody was jacked up and cheering. Everybody was just happy. Like I said, this is what we were working for from day one. For the final result to be a championship is just amazing. It was a total team effort. Special teams, defense, and our offense; we all contributed to the win. It was great to beat Amsterdam, especially because they beat us twice during the regular season. It felt great to beat them in the game that really counted.
Now that the season is over, my plans are to fly back to New York to try to make a football team. It's going to be tough because there are a lot of good players in New York, but the NFL works in mysterious ways. Hopefully, with hard work and dedication, I'll be fortunate enough to make the Jets football team. That's my main goal. I came over to Europe to get better and to grow as a football player, and I felt like I have done that. I have to go to New York and work hard and get even better, and if I'm in the right position at the right time, I think I'll be able to make the team.
Europe is fantastic. When football is all done, I'm definitely going to come back here. It's such a different place. Different cultures, different foods, and different people; it's just a different lifestyle that everyone should try and experience if they get the opportunity to. Most people in America are immigrants if you go back a couple of generations, and Europe is where the majority of people's roots began. I've had the best experience here, and I'm looking forward to the day that I get to come back.
We already had our exit physicals, which went very well, and we celebrated in Frankfurt yesterday. Today, I'm going to fly back to New York and head back to work with the Jets. O.T.A.'s (organized team activities) start today, so I'll go from there. I'm looking forward to getting back there and getting involved with that team, and trying to contribute as much as I can to help the Jets be a better football team.
From a conditioning standpoint, the fact that I've recently played in 11 football games obviously helps me. To say that I have an advantage, I really don't know. That's up for the coaches to determine. I feel good about my time in Europe and I feel like I've accomplished my goals as a football player while I was here. The coaching staff will be grading me and will be analyzing me. They're the ones that are making the decisions. I just want to contribute, work hard, and hopefully I will fall into the right situation.
I'm looking forward to turning my cell phone back on, although, it has been nice to have had it turned off for the past three months. I'm looking forward to driving a car again and I'm looking forward to watching television that is in English, to be honest with you. I've had a great experience here, and I've developed some great relationships. Like I've said before, you don't remember the tough times of football practice, you remember the great times with the people you've met. You develop relationships with people that will last a lifetime. There are a lot of special people on this team, and to come together and win the World Bowl title as a Frankfurt Galaxy member will be with me for the rest of my life.
I've been very fortunate to have been able to work with our great coaching staff. They're very intelligent, knowledgeable, and passionate men about the game of football. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world right now.
I'd just like to thank everybody for reading my diary. It's been a great experience, and to have the opportunity to share it has been fantastic. I'm very grateful that I've had the chance to share my experiences with all you folks, and I appreciate you reading. I hope you guys got a little bit of perspective of what I've been going through. Hopefully you guys can catch me on the New York Jets, if all goes as planned. Thanks again everybody!
