I Scored 1 TD In My Football Career… It Was Called Back

The following is adapted From Underdog to Bulldog.

Despite playing football at the University of Georgia, I was far from a prized recruit in high school. In fact, I only had one tackle—not even a solo tackle—and scored only one touchdown my entire high school career… and it was called back for a penalty.

Here’s the story of that touchdown. But first, some background.

In ninth grade, I played on my high school’s freshman team. In tenth grade, I moved up to varsity. At my school, Westminster, everyone in tenth through twelfth grade practiced as one team. The guys who didn’t play a lot in the varsity games played on JV.

In my sophomore year, I played tight end and linebacker. I was at the bottom of the depth chart, but when we were up by thirty points or more, our coaches emptied the bench and let everyone play. Because we were blowing out teams frequently, I played in five games that year. I didn’t stay in long, usually half a quarter, but compared to the rest of my football career since seventh grade, that was a good amount of playing time.

My junior year, the team went 4–6, so I didn’t have as many opportunities to play, but the coaches did a great job of making everyone on the team feel included, even those of us on the lower end of the depth chart. Everyone did the same drills during practice, whether they were first string or fourth string. At practice, they frequently rotated players, so even fourth-string players had to be ready in case their name was called. And if it was, they had to know where to line up and what to do.

My senior year, we lost the first three games. For the fourth game, the coaches named me a captain. I got to walk to midfield and represent my team for the coin toss. We won that game and finished the season on a 5–2 run, bringing our season record to 5–5.

Now that you understand the context, let’s talk about that fateful touchdown.

In the final game of my senior season, we built a big lead early in the game. We had the ball at the one-yard line late in the fourth quarter when Coach Gibbons, our offensive coordinator, pulled me aside and said, “Hey, I want you to score this touchdown.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I had zero tackles on defense and zero catches on offense over the course of the entire season, but the coach wanted to give me a chance to make a big play to end my high school career.

Coach told me the play and said, “The quarterback isn’t looking at any of the other receivers. We’re throwing it to you. Do you remember your route?”

“Yes,” I replied, trying to play it cool while I was jumping up and down on the inside.

I ran onto the field and joined my teammates in the huddle, then lined up at tight end.

I kept thinking, I’d better not drop this!

When the ball was snapped, I ran three steps and turned. I was wide open, and the throw was accurate. Without having time to think, I held up my hands and caught it. Touchdown! I tossed the ball to the ref and high-fived my teammates, who had run into the end zone to congratulate me. Then I noticed the yellow flag lying on the ground and heard the referee announce a holding penalty against the offense.

My one and only score in my entire football career was taken away, just like that.

The ref moved the ball back ten yards. We ran the same play, but the defense had already seen it, so I was well covered. The quarterback threw it out front, so I could catch it away from the defenders. I dove for the ball, but it was too far away. Minutes later the clock ran out, ending the season and my high school football career.

My football journey had many chapters left to be written at that point, but I’ll never forget that touchdown. The penalty might have taken it off the scoreboard, but it can’t take back the feeling of getting in the endzone.

For more stories from Candler's journey to become a Georgia Bulldog, you can find From Underdog to Bulldog on Amazon.

Candler Cook grew up watching University of Georgia football games with his family and decided at a young age that he wanted to be one of those guys on the field. Fourteen years later he became one when, after his third tryout, he was selected as a walk-on. Candler holds two degrees from the University of Georgia: a bachelor of management and a master of business administration. He lives in Atlanta, GA, and works as a finance professional.