Concrete gridiron is.

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Oh ♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪ One more, let's do it up.

This things awesome.

This gives me more independence so I'm able to do my own stuff.

I don't have to rely on everybody else.

Off we go.

Where did I put this book?

And I think, Oh my God, I think it's in my closet.

Oh, let's hope so.

I know where it's at.

I know where it's at.

I know they're here because I was just going through.

Oh, yeah.

Okay, let's see some.

Pictures.

There's me number 40, Niagara-Wheatfield.

I was our captain.

And then all appearances.

The world has never seen the likes of me before, nor was he likes me again.

There was a huge quote that I, I really I love growing up, so I put that right in there.

I wanted to get all of these things, you know, inside a binder or somehow keep it.

So I'd go back and look at all this stuff.

I played varsity football in 10th, 11th and 12th grade.

I was such a strong and driven player.

Like, I was dedicated.

I just wanted to hit people as hard as I could.

That was my favorite thing to do.

And the rest of the season, man, I was a star at wrestling.

I went to States and went to Nationals and actually come in first at Nationals.

Daniels was one of the three.

Niagara Wheatfield Frontier League wrestlers to win large school titles.

Yeah.

Oh my God, going back.

All these football and wrestling things are amazing.

So once high school was over, I was extremely interested in playing football.

Fordham University was one of the schools that, you know, approached me and talked to me about it.

But then I kind of joined the military a couple of months later, but I just felt like it was, you know, my time.

I left football, left wrestling for something bigger.

I still know I made a decision the end of 2008 while I was deployed, I was injured, went back to the states, ruptured some of the disks in my back.

But I was having neurological issues for both legs at the time they did the surgery, you know, help the pain in my back itself.

But I was having more severe neurological pain in my legs and like loss of feeling too.

Around 2016, I went from a cane to using a walker and then I transitioned over to a chair because I was falling.

I was in the emergency room non stop.

If I was lucky I was able to walk 15 feet or so before both.

My legs just gave up and I just collapsed.

At first when I was in the chair didn't bother me.

It really didn't because I had drive, I had things that I wanted to do.

I wasn't just going to sit down and feel sorry for myself, but after a year I started to recognize all the things that were harder.

Now all the things would take me longer.

So then I started to just shut down in general, and then I snapped.

I said, You got to get out of this, so you got to find something to do.

And then I found out you can compete in any type of wheelchair sport I was in.

There was rugby, there was hockey, I was waiting for wheelchair football to come to Buffalo.

And then we were blessed with wheelchair football has got me hooked and I don't plan on going anywhere.

Now there's a blank page Now that's where wheelchair stuff comes in, so I'm going to create a whole new thing because when I get older, I want to see all, all my accomplishments, all my athletic accomplishments.

I want to do all that stuff and put it in here from middle school, high school, too.

I'm a senior citizen, so blank canvas ready to add more first practice.

I fractured this one.

Just turn in the pass was there at point in my life where arthritis is Probably not that far off.

So I want to make it even worse and I have to I've been in a chair for 30 years.

I played 18 years of wheelchair basketball.

And along with.

Every other adaptive sport I'd get my hands on.

So I'm here just to help get this kicked off and offer what I can.

We're putting together a hodgepodge team right now to try to get a team going and get it and get a piece here in Buffalo.

Hopefully we can get something awesome.

Get some good interest.

Getv some good athletes.

We are fortunate to get One of these nine teams that are around the country now.

Set each person one versus one and then your goal is just to go from there to the other side and go.

105 00:05:46,212... > 00:05:49,415 This is the time we've been waiting for all year.

All year comes down to this and we are going to take control of this game.

Right from the first whistle and we're going to hit them and we're going to hit them.

My name is Tim Wade, I coached East Aurora from 2001 to 2016.

All I've done is coached pretty much my whole life.

So it's always come easy to me.

At that point in time, I wasn't even thinking about football or coaching again, and all of a sudden this thing dropped out of the sky and it ended in my lap.

Once I sat down with Norm Page, I knew I was going to coach again.

I originally thought I was going to be difficult to find a coach.

We just saw this spark in his eyes, like, you know, I miss it and I want to get it back.

We had a similar thing here in East Aurora When I first took over the program.

When I got the job, I decided that I needed to change the mentality of football in this town.

We were able to bring this what we just looked at and almost like laughed at.

We changed it.

Oh, Coach.

When this came up, you know, I kind of looked at that in the similar way, you know, to be building from bottom up again.

When we were getting ready, we were trying to find things on on Google and YouTube.

And there's really not much out there.

This is brand new and we're excited to be one of only nine cities across the country.

In the next two weeks.

We've got to get better.

With our offense.

There's only two guys that ever even played football before.

It's a lot of teaching and they're doing the things that they need to do, getting better where their chair skills.

Catching the ball, moving the ball.

We'll be so.

Much better when we get to Kansas.

City.

Our goal to get one game.

That we can win and then we'll go from there.

Wheelchair football is built exactly like regular football.

We pass the block, we do it all.

But the only major difference is that it's one hand touch and it's done on concrete, the concrete gridiron.

With it's not always deep, it's what we see with the defender.

So Dave can put the ball in.

Depending on what he's going to do, if he's going to back off a little better, he could have come off.

You might have to cut it off a little bit quicker.

B6 -Z3-Y1-A4 Nice ball.

Oh.

When you're deep, you're here Close, thumbs.

Pinky's here.

Okay.

Everybody bring it in.

I'm appreciative of having my two boys coaching with me.

And it's it's difficult to even talk about because I get choked up about the thought of it, you know, because they're they're my best friends, truly.

It's a beautiful thing.

Coach Wade, my father was when he retired, I guess you could say I essentially retired when I found out and he called me and told me about it.

Wheelchair football, my initial reaction was like I was all about it right away, not even knowing what I was getting into.

What's up, boys?

my brother is a little bit more reserved than I am.

And a loud coach, I guess you could say I'm as much of a cheerleader as I guess we got.

And I'm not afraid to say, like, this is how it got to be.

Guys who are here every day are going to play, guys who put the time in are going to play.

Guys who are working hard and showing commitment and helping, are going to play be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Everybody agree?

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Go baby go Everybody.

Thank you.

Great job today.

Why are you guys here?

You know, you guys want to have fun.

You guys want to win?

Yeah.

Like, what's your why?

You guys all have come through some really hard times.

I mean, here you are playing a sport that didn't exist years ago, so this is fun.

This is new.

What we're just trying to say is, like, we are a team here.

We're a team, but we're a family.

It's commitment but we're also volunteering because we frickin love this.

Yeah.

So yeah, thank you guys for getting here.

And no matter what, this right here is the first buffalo wheelchair football team.

We're representing Buffalo, Bills mafia.

We're representing our towns, our villages.

It's amazing, guys.

Only eight other teams in the country.

Exactly.

Hashtag blessed.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I love you guys.

Seriously.

Much love to all you.

Thank you.

And we'll see you Monday.

We can get our asses handed to us if we don't block.

We need to protect Dave We need to protect the quarterback.

who's willing to do that.

I want to see you guys.

BLOCK oh, yeah.

Oh, oh.

With everything that's been going on, we're going to announce our three captains.

Dave, Matt And Adam.

I was born with spinal bifida and I wasn't able to play regular able bodied sports.

And then eventually we were able to find sled hockey.

And I got on the sled for the first time when I was six years old and loved it.

He got very good very quickly.

Once he found out there was a national team, he was determined he was going to make that team.

Really, it was a full time job from that point on.

And I was in the gym or on the ice six, seven days a week the first time I made the national team at the age of 15.

So I was fortunate to be a part of winning three gold medals at the Paralympics growing up in sport, something that you you dream about.

And to be able to do that for 12 years and for three Paralympics is that it's awesome.

Football is not something I've ever played or really knew the X's and O's of.

So that's been the biggest challenge for me is learning a completely new sport.

Have Adam out there and have that raw talent.

It's exciting.

I get to work with a gold medalist, three time gold medalist.

Guys make sure they're pumped up Every time before you start.

Every day.

We've gotten better at three months ago to where we are now, and it's a big change, man.

All right, here we go.

Here we come, KC.

You got to check this bag.

Oh, absolutely.

Okay, let's go.

Buffalo tickets.

The lovely lady over here picked up the first tab for all you guys.

Salute.

Cheers.

You got this only play like you've never played before.

Oh, I like it.

Off to Kansas City, baby.

Time to win this one.

Let's go.

I can't even Hold still right now.

Why isn't it tomorrow?

Weather is a little chilly, a little wet, but hey, hey, it's football weather, man.

Who's going to get through no matter what it is.

What's, first of all, what a great wheelchair football.

Oh, wow.

Oh, come watch us.

We're ready to Arrowhead Stadium.

We're tomorrow 10:30 and 3:30 That ball game.

I'm over here.

Okay.

Yeah.

Come out and watch.

Wheelchair football.

Glamorous life of a wheelchair football player right here.

Andy.

I need you, bro.

What's going.

On?

I need you to help stretch me out a little bit.

Oh, you're hurting.

Yeah.

No, my neck.

I really do.

If you got a second, man tight.

This whole Oh, my God.

At least move right now.

I can actually move my shoulders and neck around.

Thank you.

First down Let's go.

Let's go, let's go.

We had our first game and we lost six nothing.

It was a it was a battle.

I have expectations for each person, myself, Dave, and everybody else in the team.

You know, there's no excuse now, because Now we know what we're walking into.

Oh, we're up in the early quarter after 7 Game 1 in an hour This is the last game.

This game means everything.

We should be slamming.

We should be falling, sweating, bleeding, crying, just to make it down the field.

We need to end our season.

At least moving forward.

We got to see where we stand against the best right now, see where we stand Let's go.

I'll tell you what, I'm proud of you What we did and how we've we've grown in the last couple of months.

Overall, I like our toughness.

I like our attitude.

I like how hard we block up front.

We're progressing.

Okay?

This is not going to be an overnight thing, man.

It's going to take time.

We are improving.

You know, I love each and every one of you.

Yeah.

And I'm proud of you through here.

Football is a thing about family coming together and loving everybody on this team.

And we will play for that guy next to us and we will get better at it and we're going to get better.

And you got to find that in your heart.

You got to find out that that will that is there.

We will make changes.

We will be changed.

And that's what's going to happen here.

Let's go Buffalo I'm here.

I'm here till the end.

Girls say Hi Being a part of this team.

It's given me a whole new reason to keep working hard.

I'm 36 years old, and, you know, I want to keep going.

I'm a competitor and I like to find different things, you know, challenges that I can try to overcome.

And now that the season's gone, this whole in-between time, that's all I've been doing, is thinking about football.

It's with me for life.

And I'm proud to have tattooed it on myself.

I'm gonna see this guy.

And remember our season Let's go Buffalo.

Look at how I plan on doing this till I'm 50 or 60.

I don't plan on going anywhere.

I'm more motivated than ever.

I just like, you know, if it drops, you might want to.

It.

Yeah.

All Oh, oh, a second one.

Oh, oh.

I don't.

Buffalo and everybody on behalf of our team, I want a big norm for you and Norm.

Coach, Norm, the wage.

Guys, thank you for everything.

I know we are only on time, but there's nobody else.

I'd rather be working with you guys so you guys got water and more water.

So I'm proud of you.

What we did, how we've grown in the last couple of months.

Right.

And we're going to get that much better next time we play the fricken guys.

Overall, I like their toughness, I like their attitude, like how hard they blocked up front.

That is a positive step right there in the right direction.

Take that away from here.

What's not breaking our receiver to break in the breaks?

Yeah, exactly where we're progressing.

Okay.

This is not going to be an overnight thing, man.

It's going to take time.

We are proving we're just a matter of speed, man.

So you know what that means.

Practice in the offseason.

Yeah, we got to get better at our wheelchair skills, but we know how we can.

Everybody's got to know the playbook.

I mean that.

Yeah, that's right.

Vert we'll go through for next year well we're going to keep the doggone.