By Ken Hansard
Pittsburg High School football player and student-athlete TJ Wesley spoke to VYPE SPORTS in a recent interview.
VYPE SPORTS: What are your personal goals for the year?
Wesley: Some of the personal goals I created for myself were to have over 20 pancakes this season and to give up no QB sacks. Also to be a great leader even when times get rough and to make sure everyone’s bought in to the Dragon program and its culture – and just give our all for each other and our community.
VYPE SPORTS: What is your favorite athletic memory?
Wesley: My favorite athletic memory is whenever I was in the fifth grade. I was going to miss one of my Junior Dragon football games, and my friend bribed me with a Big Mac from McDonald’s to make sure I played in the game so I could help us win, and we ended up losing by 25 points.
VYPE SPORTS: What teammate has left the biggest impression on you and why?
Wesley: I would say the teammate who left the biggest impression on me would have to be my friend, Nate Mitchell. We’ve been playing football together for a long, long time. We’ve grown a connection through football and playing other sports, and now we’re like brothers – inseparable.
VYPE SPORTS: What is your favorite part of being on this team?
Wesley: My favorite part about being on the Dragon football team is the alumni. They appreciate how great the program is. Knowing how many alumni come back and watch us play every Friday and knowing they are checking up on us to make sure we’re doing the right thing helps to hold us accountable to the Dragon football tradition, and that is amazing. Something else I like is the friendships we build, and understanding that no matter how old we get, we’ll be brothers. I’ll be able to keep these relationships for the rest of my life
VYPE SPORTS: What clubs or campus groups are you involved with and why?
Wesley: I’m the head of GBL, which is Get Busy Living. We do a lot of community service around Pittsburg and other parts of the Southeast Kansas area. We help with the Special Olympics, and we help a lot with the Salvation Army. Another group that I’m in is FCA – Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I’ve been a member for all four years. I am also in NHS, which is National Honors Society.
VYPE SPORTS: What has your sport taught you that you use in your daily life?
Wesley: I’ve learned during my time playing football that it’s all about the next play. This translates to life, because if you’re not having the best day in one class, there’s always another class, so just flush the bad stuff and go on; don’t dwell on one thing and learn to have kind of a short-term memory. Another thing I’ve learned is to always strive for the best. That goes from being in weights, to just keeping that intensity and drive for everything I want to accomplish. When I go to get a job, I know that I’m going to drive every day to get better and better, so I can get higher up in the rankings and earn more money one day.
VYPE SPORTS: What is the best advice that anyone has given you?
Wesley: “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” The things that matter are usually the hardest things – that goes from relationships to playing sports to working. The hardest things are probably going to be the best things for you because you have to work for them. Those things in life that are easy and are given to you – well, you’re more than likely not going to obtain any meaning from those things. Coach Lattimer taught me that.
VYPE SPORTS: Who inspires you and why?
Wesley: Someone who inspires me… There are actually two. I have two older siblings, a brother and a sister, who both have special needs. Understanding that they get up every day and do the things they have to do, and understanding their challenges and how they don’t complain, means everything. It shows me that no matter how I feel or how tired I am, my life will never be as hard as theirs. That pushes me to be better. Not only am I playing sports for myself, but I’m playing it for them because I understand that they never got the chance to do that. Just knowing that they get to watch means the world to me.
VYPE SPORTS: Here is your chance to give a shout out or say thank you to anyone you wish.
Wesley: I would like to give a shout out to my whole senior class and to the underclassman. Also, my coaches – every single last one of them from when I was in second grade all the way to a senior. Thank you for everything – for pushing me to be the best version of me. And finally, to my parents and the God above. Thank you all so much. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this, and you all are the greatest!
