Authored by Chukwubuikem Akanegbu
It was a brisk September night with the bright lights shining on the athletes. As the ball was coughed up, “Baby Thibs” leaped on it. The announcer proclaimed, “Number 76, Luke Thibeault with the fumble recovery for OA.” The tigah pit went wild as their star defender made a crucial play in a tight game against the Silver Lake Lakers. Unfortunately, the Tigers went on to lose a tough one at home 28-18. However, this did not faze Luke, for he knows there is more to life to than football. Luke has had an undying passion for football since the age of 11, even though his primary focus lies in his education.
“I just saw the ball on the ground and instinctively jumped on it,” Thibeault discussed after the game. “It felt good to see the recognition my teammates gave me, even though it goes down as a personal achievement it it felt like a team achievement.”
Football just came to Luke when he first playing in sixth grade. He’s always loved watching the Patriots with his brother and father. Luke joined football mainly due to the fact that his older brother Sam played for OAHS and his father was D1 bound lineman and linebacker out of Brockton High. Luke really looks up to both of them as idols and mentors. “They really drove me into the sport, although I was hesitant at first,” said Luke, “but I am glad I took that initial step, and have loved the game ever since.”
Coming from a large family, Luke has always played football outside of organized football, like his annual football game his family plays before the Thanksgiving feast. “I always loved that definitive match between my Uncle Jay and I, pressing hard whenever playing against each other at the receiver and cornerback.” As the years went on and Luke got bigger, his love for the game grew proportionally bigger.
Although Luke has not faced much hardship in his life he did have to go through a minor setback junior year before a big game against the dominant Mansfield Hornets. Luke managed to injure his knee a key component for a lineman who tries to drive the opposing force out. “It was hard at first not being able to be out there with my team, but being sidelined helped me want to get out there quicker,” said Luke. This in turn ultimately sped up his time out as he took rehab seriously and worked very hard at the gym to get his knee back to where it needed to be.
But there was more than football that Sam and his father influenced on Luke. The main reason Luke’s father had left the game of football at Amherst was to focus on his education, majoring in political sciences. “He always talked to me about how sad he was to leave football, but knew it was more important on getting a good education,” said Luke “But that has really stuck with me throughout my life.” There was also Luke’s older brother Sam, who was a four year football linemen at OA. “Sam also knew he wanted focus on his education at Amherst over football as well. Sam found his passion within Economics, and has run with it further than he could have gone with football. Luke, like his father and his brother, began to focus more on his education and less with football as he grew older. Somewhere along the lines, he found his love for math.
A lot of people tend to hate math and find that it unnecessary in most real-life situations. However, for Luke, it is the best part of the day for him. Luke has always loved math and excelled at in during class as he takes higher level math courses such as AB Calc and AP Stats. “I don’t really know where it started, but at some point, I just began to get interested by it and here I am now,” Luke stated. Luke is currently looking into finance and business at some prestigious schools such as Umass Amherst, Providence College, and his top school, Bentley University. Although Luke does not have a full grasp of his dreams and goals in life, he knows math will be a “fraction” of it some way or another.