Jeff Apodaca Delivers Pep Talk to Demon Football

Jeff Apodaca, former SFHS and UNM football star and now candidate for governor of New Mexico, spoke to the football team in September about his life challenges, offering inspiration and a few words of advice to help turn the program around.

Apodaca said that the football program today is a mirror image of what it was like his freshman year at Santa Fe High, in 1976. At that time, varsity wasn’t doing very well and the freshmen wanted to create a team that would win state their senior year, which they did.

“Everything you do in life is a team sport,” Apodaca said, explaining that everything he has done in his life started with what he learned in YAFL Football.In regard to the team’s recent losses, he expressed that he knew what it was like to be upset with a loss, whether it was football or in life. “Sometimes you want to fight back [with the other team], but in life you can’t do that,” he said. “You have to think about the consequences of losing your job and not being able to support your family.”

When he was 17, Apodaca was diagnosed with cancer and was told that he would never play football again. He went on to play Division 1 football at the University of New Mexico; he was a starter in his last two years.

He overcame obstacles and negativity because he was determined, he said, adding that he was told time and time again that he was too short, too slow, and not good enough — but he made it to college ball. “You’re going to get hit, you’re going to fall down, you’re going to get sad. It’s how you get back up. It’s how you rebound,” he said.

Apodaca reiterated to the team that they can’t take playing this sport for granted, “You never know when this can be taken away, so make the most of it when you’re out there on the field.”

He told the current juniors and seniors on the team to enjoy their last few years, and he told the freshmen and sophomores that they had the opportunity to change the program and turn it into what it was forty years ago when they won state. “Discipline today is what you need to turn the program around. It’s about working together as a team. Don’t give up. Push through,” Apodaca said.

Senior football player Levi Lopez said, “He was telling the truth, but the program doesn’t change overnight. The mindset still isn’t where it needs to be, but it’s getting there.”

Apodaca concluded by saying, “No matter how successful you are, there’s nothing like a touchdown and bumping chests with your teammate. This is it.”