Messiah's Musings: The Final Blog

Iowa State travels to Kansas State Saturday in what will be the final game for the ISU senior football players. In order to give Cyclone fans an inside look at the Iowa State football team, senior wide receiver Euseph Messiah has been posting a weekly blog at cyclones.com on Friday of each week throughout the football season. Read his final entry below.

Week 13
Hey there Cyclone fans, welcome to the final edition of my weekly blog for the 2008 season. For this final week, we prepare to face off against the Kansas State Wildcats at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m., and should be a very exciting game. Unfortunately, this is our last game of the season and last game ever for many players like me so hopefully we can end our season on a good note as we head into Thanksgiving break.

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From my experiences over the last four-plus years, I've learned many things that I believe will benefit us as men as we prepare for the next step in our lives, whether that's the off-season, training for the next level or life after football. From my upbringing, my parents always stressed the value of hard work and I took that work ethic with me when I decided to attend Iowa State. Because I was a walk-on entering my first year, I knew that I would have to try and separate myself by constantly working hard and I believe it has paid off. I never thought that I would gain other strong characteristics such as determination, leadership, confidence, mental strength and toughness, teamwork, dependability, cooperation and many others.

My experience as an Iowa State football player has benefited me so much to the point that I've never felt more prepared to enter the new chapter in my life and I believe the other outgoing players feel the same way. This program benefits us players more than just glory on Saturdays - it prepares us to be men that are mentally tough enough to face the many ups and downs we'll face in the world after football.

For this I'd like to thank everyone who has made a difference in our lives at this program and that goes from high-level administrative mentors, coaches, peers and players. On behalf of the outgoing players, thank you.

To be honest Cyclone fans, this time in my life has been hard to cope with this past week. After our tough loss last week on senior night against Mizzou, my fellow seniors and I were told that this week would be a series of “lasts” for us that we'll all have to deal with. I thought playing in Jack Trice for the last time was hard enough ? how am I going to get through this next week? Senior Safety Brandon Hunley described the feelings we've been experiencing as surreal and I agree. The thought of us probably playing our last game of football is an idea we never thought would happen.

Most of us have been playing this game since we were eight years old and have thought about playing football everyday as long as we can remember. That's exactly why I feel that to leave Manhattan with a win is so important ? not only for the seniors and outgoing players, but also for the program and its future. As seniors, we have fought for four-plus years to turn the Iowa State program into a successful product and our mentality hasn't changed. To leave our last game with a win would change our current streak of losses in the Big 12 (both home and away), give us a good taste to end our season as we prepare for the off-season, and give my fellow seniors and I a good note to end on for our Iowa State career.

Deep into my heart and soul, I love my teammates and this game very much. Every year I love how God takes players from all types of backgrounds and situations and puts them into our team to add a little different “flavor” ? and this 2008 team was very special.

Like I said earlier in the season, this team was very mature and bonded well earlier than usual squads since I've been here. Our ability to stick together as a family helped us through our tough season and I'm very excited to see the young teammates of mine get older and take the Iowa State program to a new level ? because they can and will.

As for the seniors and outgoing players, coach Chizik rewarded us this week with a “Senior Week”. It gave us a chance to speak to the team throughout different situations about our experiences at Iowa State, while at the same time getting a chance to sit out on after-practice conditioning as a sign of the hard work paying off over the years.

For me and my close friends on the team, we spent our last week reminiscing about many experiences and basically tried to cope with the idea of our lives never being the same after this week. We spoke about our first memories of each other.

For example, my first memory of safety Chris Brown was when we were on the newcomer bus from our hotel during camp and we were on our way to the Bergstrom Indoor Training Facility for our first conditioning test at Iowa State. He was very shy and seemed distant from everyone else and who knew that four years later he'd become one of my closest friends.

We spent all week laughing and giving thanks to God for letting us to be able to avoid serious injury and even see our last game. The strong love and friendship as well as the memories helped us cope with each day as it went by.

Then Thursday came with my last practice ever s an Iowa State football player. It was a very emotional time for us as coach Chizik set up what is called the “Senior Walk”, where all of the remaining players and coaches line up all the way to the exit of the Bergstrom Indoor Training Facility and the outgoing players take their time going down the line of teammates saying their thanks and good-byes. Many tears were shed as we knew we'd never practice and be a part of something that has changed our lives forever.

But, we know it is time for us to move on. My fellow teammate R.J. Sumrall described it as not an ending, but a new beginning.

I don't know how it's going to be when the last seconds tick off the clock in Bill Snyder Family Stadium, but I imagine it being seen in slow motion for the outgoing players. We've put in blood, sweat and tears for this game for the last 10 to 15 years and now we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It's very unfortunate that our last season didn't end up the way we wanted and many of us ask for what reasons, but only God knows why. But I do know this: The season brought out our true characteristics on the team such as hard work, perseverance, mental toughness, leadership, courage and the ability to not give up. All of these are very important as we all enter the next chapter in our lives and I'm very grateful for that.

I'd like to take this time to give thanks.

Thank you God for putting me in this great environment for the last four years. Thank you Dad for loving me, giving me my strong mentality of leadership, hard work ethic, while sharing the love of the game with me, it's greatly appreciated. Thank you Mama for loving me, always helping me cope with every situation I've encountered, every trip you took with Trouble to see me and giving me the mentality that “you get out of it, what you put into it,” it's greatly appreciated. Thank you teammates for being my brothers the last four-plus years and giving me many memories that I will carry the rest of my life.

Thank you coaches, trainers and managers for being our mentors, listeners, and role-models. Thank you Iowa State for turning us into the successful men we are going to become. Thank you Brittanie, my fianc?, for being my best friend the last four-plus years as we begin our new life together. And most of all, thank you Cyclone fans for being so cooperative and loyal the past four-plus years of my life. I hope that everyone enjoyed reading my weekly blog this season because it was a blessing to share my thoughts and insight with you. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, remember to cheer us on Saturday against the Wildcats, and as always GO CYCLONES!

- Euseph

“Yesterday brought the beginning, tomorrow brings the end but somewhere in the middle we've become the leaders we are today”

Players Mentioned

Chris Brown

Chris Brown

Brandon Hunley

Brandon Hunley

Euseph Messiah

Euseph Messiah

R.J. Sumrall

R.J. Sumrall

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics