The Eudora Middle School Press Club assisted in the production of this story. Students interviewed Siemon after working with Eudora Times staff to develop question-writing and interview skills. You can support efforts like the press club, and all of our reporting, by giving to our pledge drive at this link. www.launchku.org/project/44323
Even as senior Errol Siemon laid on the turf, hearing the news that he had broken his collarbone, which would keep him out for the rest of his final season, he was finding the positive to look at.
“It could have been worse,” Siemon said. “When I broke my collarbone, it was more of an ‘I gotta be there for the team’ more than ‘I’m out for the season.’”
This was not the senior year Siemon had imagined. After fighting through three torn ligaments in his ankle the year before, Siemon had spent the summer in the weight room, adding 30 pounds of muscle to prepare for what was supposed to be the pinnacle season of his high school career.
But in the first game of the year, that dream came crashing down when he broke his collarbone into three pieces.
Siemon could have called it quits. But he never considered that option. One of the biggest lessons he learned from football was to find the bright side.
He was ready to get to work as a senior leader on the team, even if it looked different than he planned.
“Once I got my surgery and everything, I tried to, I really tried to be there for the guys more than for me,” he said.
“Love for the sport more than anything”
Siemon fell in love with sports early in life. He played as much as he could.
He started with soccer, and has tried his hand at basketball, wrestling, golf, track, powerlifting and probably a few more that he can’t remember. But his true love was football.
“I don’t know what part of it was so intriguing,” Siemon said. “There’s just that natural love for the sport more than anything else.”
Siemon still plays multiple sports, spending his winters on the basketball court and springs with the track and field team. He said each one helps him grow in different ways.
“Football and basketball and track, they involve different athletes,” Siemon said. “So, you’re around a bunch of different people, which can also give you different lessons.”
It requires a lot from him. He’s rigorous about sleep, avoiding energy drinks and other caffeine boosts, and works to eat healthy and keep himself fueled.
Sophomore year was a big moment for Siemon. Eudora finished 8-2 with Siemon playing a key role as a linebacker and running back.
He was used to playing with older kids. Siemon spent most of his young life playing football up a grade, which challenged him to be bigger, faster and stronger.
But even doing everything right, things can still go sideways.
After injuring his foot as a sophomore and getting surgery as a junior, he worked hard to come back stronger for his senior year. But getting injured in his first game forced him to rethink his role. Even still, he was confident in one thing: He wasn’t done with football yet.
“As a leader, I needed to still be at practice and still be vocal on the sidelines at games,” Siemon said. “I think as an athlete that’s not playing that knows the game very well, I still think I’m valuable, just not on the field.”
“He puts the team first”
Football head coach Drew Steffen first met Siemon when he was a middle schooler. From that day on, Steffen said Siemon was always a hard worker and always wanted to do the right thing.
That didn’t change when Siemon got hurt.
“He’s just a good kid, so he’s gonna do what’s right,” Steffen said. “He puts the team first, like he wasn’t selfish. You know, he understood the bigger picture.”
Steffen has been an important influence for Siemon, who called the coach a second dad and recalled hanging out with Steffen’s kids.
“He’s a very smart guy when it comes to football, and that’s the same way with the rest of our staff,” Siemon said. “He’s someone I could go to anytime I need to.”
Senior Connor Watson said it was a next man up mindset when Siemon got hurt. Siemon helped prepare the back-up running backs to take his spot. Other seniors like Watson worked to fill Siemon’s leadership shoes.
Watson said Siemon helped the team throughout the year in tough moments.
“It was very easy to get down on each other when we weren’t doing good,” Watson said. “When we weren’t doing good, he was that guy that was kind of like, ‘Come on, guys, we can still do this.’”
Always find the positive
Siemon was one game away.
His doctors had cleared him to start practice, and he was cleared to play if the team made the second round of the playoffs.
In the first round, the Cardinals had started slow and were down 25-6 at halftime. Just about everyone wearing Eudora’s blue and red started to hang their heads.
But not Siemon. He kept the energy up on the sideline, encouraging the team to take it one play at a time. The Cardinals started to crawl back, but eventually fell short.
It meant Siemon’s high school football career was over. His chance at a senior-season return was done.
Even in that disappointment, Siemon kept finding the good. Speaking to the rest of the team after the loss, he repeated what he said was the biggest lesson he took from football: Always find the positive.
He hopes to continue giving back to the Eudora community, with sports and more. He’s looking into plans to play college football, a long-time dream of his.
“Giving back is a big one,” Simon said. “And just becoming the best person and best role model I can for the younger class. Even in high school, just the younger kids, being a good role model for them. And then, like, the middle schoolers and elementary schoolers looking up to a player in high school, or possibly wearing my number when they get to high school because of me.”
Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at [email protected]
