Tough Practices a "Gift" for Boca Ciega's Conyers

It's not too difficult to understand how committed defensive back Denzel Conyers is for Boca Ciega High School's football squad.

Often in practice, Pirates coach Antez Brinson has the players perform a task called "Indian Run." It's not for the feint of heart.

The exercise calls for the entire football team to run in a circle. At the sound of a whistle, the person in the back of the line must sprint to the front of the line as the group continues to run in a giant circle. Once the sprinter reaches the front of the line, Brinson will blow the whistle again for the next player in the back of the line to sprint to the front.

This continues until at least every player has to sprint to get to the front of the line, all the while his teammates continue to run in a giant circle. Before the exercise is finished, the entire team will have run a mile, maybe longer.

The Indian Run is enough to make a young man rethink why he is playing football. Don't ever count Conyers among that group.

"It's a gift," Conyers said of the Indian Run.

He was serious.

"The Indian Run, wow, you can't prepare for that, it hurts, but they pay off," Conyers said. "They are no fun at all, you can't enjoy those, but it's not punishment. I see it as a gift. It's like training a dog, you give the dog a gift.

"These will pay off for us."

That's the mentality the senior brings to the football practice field. He knows Brinson wants the best for his team and that hard work now, in May, will pay off with sweet wins in the fall.

While Conyers, like his teammates, would rather never participate in the Indian Run again, he knows the benefits.

"I don't see it as a punishment at all," Conyers said.

Conyers, like his teammates, have been punishing themselves since January when Brinson took over as the Pirates football coach. Brinson brings an enthusiasm and energy to the team which rubs off on the players Conyers said, making the team eager to hit the weights and push hard on the field as Conyers knows all of these ugly things will build a winner.

"I can see everyone on this team, we have more passion for the game," Conyers said. "I think we get the passion from the energy of Coach. He brings it every day and we feed off of that. He makes us want to play better. We are for him."

But this is May. The season doesn't begin for another three months. There's a lot of work to do still between the end of spring practice and the start of the 2011 regular season.

"I need to take on my leadership role better and work on my technique," Conyers said. "If I make a mistake or slack off, the young guys see me and copy me. I need to get my stuff together. People are watching me. If you have injuries, you just have to fight through it."