2026-02-12, 04:07 PM - Word count:
12 Feb 2026
The question of the week for the eagles is:
For most of the time I’ve been playing football, I have seen the sport as an extracurricular, a way to stay in shape and compete with a team but not a top priority. While in high school, I trained hard and applied myself in matches, but I didn’t go above and beyond what was needed to be a member of the team. What mattered to me was that I did enough so my teammates could count on me to deliver on my role, and I was perfectly fine with not being the star player.
Moving to Granada and playing with the university team changed my perspective. At first, I treated my role on the team with the same indifference I had in high school: I was dependable and fulfilled my duties, but I didn’t dedicate my life toward improving my game. But since the level of competition was stronger, success didn’t come as naturally to me. Either I needed to change my mindset toward training, or I’d be left behind.
It took the belief of my teammates to convince me that I had a natural talent for football, and that I could become something special with a deeper commitment to developing my skills. I’ll never forget when one of my closest friends on the team, midfielder Arturo Gibosa, pulled me aside after a practice and just said “Ekon, you’re wasting your gift!” I suppose that’s the moment when I realized I could make it as a professional football player, but only if I changed my approach. I needed to hear that others believed in me in order to believe in myself, and from that point I had a stronger belief that I could go pro.
Over my professional career, I aspire first to be a passionate team player that puts my team first. I remember how my teammates looked down upon me when I was the last one to practice and the first one to leave, when I wasn’t putting in as much work as them. For my professional career, I want to instead earn a reputation for being fully invested in the success of my team and myself. I will strive to make football my biggest priority so there are absolutely no questions about my passion for this sport. On the pitch, I aspire to become a premier defense-first player. My ultimate goal is to earn at least one nomination to a Team of the Season, but more than that I hope to be in the conversation as a top talent at the fullback position for mutliple seasons of my career.
The question of the week for the eagles is:
Quote:When did you realize you could make it as a professional football player, and what aspirations do you have for your career?
For most of the time I’ve been playing football, I have seen the sport as an extracurricular, a way to stay in shape and compete with a team but not a top priority. While in high school, I trained hard and applied myself in matches, but I didn’t go above and beyond what was needed to be a member of the team. What mattered to me was that I did enough so my teammates could count on me to deliver on my role, and I was perfectly fine with not being the star player.
Moving to Granada and playing with the university team changed my perspective. At first, I treated my role on the team with the same indifference I had in high school: I was dependable and fulfilled my duties, but I didn’t dedicate my life toward improving my game. But since the level of competition was stronger, success didn’t come as naturally to me. Either I needed to change my mindset toward training, or I’d be left behind.
It took the belief of my teammates to convince me that I had a natural talent for football, and that I could become something special with a deeper commitment to developing my skills. I’ll never forget when one of my closest friends on the team, midfielder Arturo Gibosa, pulled me aside after a practice and just said “Ekon, you’re wasting your gift!” I suppose that’s the moment when I realized I could make it as a professional football player, but only if I changed my approach. I needed to hear that others believed in me in order to believe in myself, and from that point I had a stronger belief that I could go pro.
Over my professional career, I aspire first to be a passionate team player that puts my team first. I remember how my teammates looked down upon me when I was the last one to practice and the first one to leave, when I wasn’t putting in as much work as them. For my professional career, I want to instead earn a reputation for being fully invested in the success of my team and myself. I will strive to make football my biggest priority so there are absolutely no questions about my passion for this sport. On the pitch, I aspire to become a premier defense-first player. My ultimate goal is to earn at least one nomination to a Team of the Season, but more than that I hope to be in the conversation as a top talent at the fullback position for mutliple seasons of my career.
![[Image: ihJvO77.png]](https://imgur.com/ihJvO77.png)
SSL Club Identities – Handing Out Attribute Report Cards
Analyzing Defender Value By Role
About Ekon 1 2 3
Career Tasks 1
