It’s common to think that being part of a major team is an impossible task, many children dream about being a professional football player, being in the hall of fame and widely known around the world, but behind those dreams there are stories of hard-work, sacrifice, perseverance and constancy, Julien Simon is a great example of this.
From the city of Tacoma, Julien has always been in touch with the sportive world, his parents and older brothers were outstanding athletes, “Sports has always been a part of my life, it was something I grew up on with two older brothers who also participated in sports”, said Julien. Currently, he plays in the USC Trojans Football Team, one of the most important college teams in the United States.
To become a successful athlete it’s indispensable to work hard, but as a linebacker, Simon has to work even harder for such a physically demanding position in the team. Julien trains twice a day for long periods of time, he also has to do meetings and walkthroughs during the week, making it a full-time job, but that is not enough for Julien, when he is not training at the USC, he works with his trainer back home in Washington for speed training “I work in my speed because my strength is physicality at this point and I need to get faster so that’s mainly what I work on,” said Simon. All of this training is necessary as Julien plays as a linebacker, which is one of the most relevant and demanding positions in the team, linebackers are responsible for communicating the play call, stopping the run as well as playing the pass and it requires players to be both big and athletic.
Julien remarks that physical preparation is not the only thing you need, “I honestly believe in the mental part of the game more than the physical, because when you get to this level everyone has the physical part otherwise, they wouldn’t be here,” stated Simon. Since he was a child, his parents always taught him about responsibility, discipline and perseverance, “When I was in third grade, I wanted to practice another sport, in that time my parents didn’t allow me to play AAU basketball until the next year so I decided to play baseball and I hated it and wanted to quit, however they told me these words that are always in my mind even after all of these years, they said whatever you start in life, you finish it”.
Simon’s team is one of the most important football teams in the US with a rich history of legendary players like Troy Polalamu, Reggie Bush, Junior Seau, etc. USC traditional rivals are UCLA and Notre Dame, all 3 teams have a plentiful tradition of winning football which makes the rivalries intriguing and interesting not only to their fans, but to neutral fans of college Football as well.
When we asked him for any advice for kids who want to follow his steps he responded “My advice would be actually not to follow my steps, just view my path but create your own, do what you love but the most important part is to be better on it and you will succeed in life”. Julien Simon is definitely an athlete that will leave his landmark in the next generations, he has been able to demonstrate that with effort, responsibility, resolution and vision, we can reach our goals, no matter if our dream is to become part of a major team.