Horned Frogs First Person: Shadrach Banks
6/27/2023 11:48:00 AM | Football
Family is everything to the TCU linebacker
(as told to Lily Margaret Greenway)
A lot of people work hard to prove their doubters wrong. I just want to prove the people who believed in me right.
Family is everything to me. I pick my family over anything, any day of the week, and I'd take dinner with my grandma over a million dollars. My mom and my grandma are the two people who motivate me in everything I do. I want to pay them back for raising me and getting me to this point in life. I'm a first-generation college student, and a lot of my family members didn't even finish high school. I know I'm making them proud just by being here, but I want to go above and beyond in representing our last name at a place like TCU. In our game at the University of Houston this season, it will be the first time most of my family gets to see me play college football in-person, and not just on television. That'll be pretty cool.
Looking back at every practice and off-season throughout my career, I realize how much blood, sweat and tears my teammates and I put into the game. We're a brotherhood and there's trust between us, which I think is the most important thing in friendship and in leadership. When I first came to TCU, I just clicked with all the guys here, and I felt like it was so easy to talk to anyone. I had never had that experience on a team before. If you're not a team player, it's not really going to work out for you. The whole game is about doing your job and trusting your brother to do his. I come in every day ready to do what I need to for my team. From the scout team, to special teams, the first name on the roster to the last, everyone contributes towards getting us to the National Championship.
I've been playing football since I was four. My younger self was a lot more confident than I am now, but I think even he'd be shocked at where I am today. He'd be happy, though. I know his first question would be, "what position do I play?" because when you're little, you play everything. You never know your last snap or your last game, so you might as well go 110 percent each time. Ultimately, my goal is to be a coach, because I just want to stay around the game for a few extra decades.
A lot of people work hard to prove their doubters wrong. I just want to prove the people who believed in me right.
Family is everything to me. I pick my family over anything, any day of the week, and I'd take dinner with my grandma over a million dollars. My mom and my grandma are the two people who motivate me in everything I do. I want to pay them back for raising me and getting me to this point in life. I'm a first-generation college student, and a lot of my family members didn't even finish high school. I know I'm making them proud just by being here, but I want to go above and beyond in representing our last name at a place like TCU. In our game at the University of Houston this season, it will be the first time most of my family gets to see me play college football in-person, and not just on television. That'll be pretty cool.
Looking back at every practice and off-season throughout my career, I realize how much blood, sweat and tears my teammates and I put into the game. We're a brotherhood and there's trust between us, which I think is the most important thing in friendship and in leadership. When I first came to TCU, I just clicked with all the guys here, and I felt like it was so easy to talk to anyone. I had never had that experience on a team before. If you're not a team player, it's not really going to work out for you. The whole game is about doing your job and trusting your brother to do his. I come in every day ready to do what I need to for my team. From the scout team, to special teams, the first name on the roster to the last, everyone contributes towards getting us to the National Championship.
I've been playing football since I was four. My younger self was a lot more confident than I am now, but I think even he'd be shocked at where I am today. He'd be happy, though. I know his first question would be, "what position do I play?" because when you're little, you play everything. You never know your last snap or your last game, so you might as well go 110 percent each time. Ultimately, my goal is to be a coach, because I just want to stay around the game for a few extra decades.
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