By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
While the Hanna Golden Eagles faced a lot of questions during a lowly 2019 season, one thing that couldn’t be questioned was the work ethic and passion senior defensive tackle Brandon Esteves brought to the football field 100 percent of the time.
“It was an emotional roller coaster throughout the year,” Esteves said. “But every loss and every win we took, regardless of the outcome, I realized it’s a game and something I love doing, and I just have to (look) forward to the next one and forget about the past.”
Esteves was one of the few high points for the Golden Eagles, as he once again dominated in the trenches while simultaneously leading a crop of young players behind him, It earned him the distinction as The Brownsville Herald’s 2019 All-Metro Football defensive player of the year.
The Hanna senior put up solid numbers once again with 88 tackles, 25 tackles for a loss and three sacks. He was named District 32-6A’s co-defensive player of the year and was a second-team selection to the Texas Associated Press Sports Editors’ Class 6A all-state football team.
While the accolades and numbers jump off the page, Esteves remains humble yet intense.
“I think it’s two things (that allow me to perform at a high level), and that’s the hard work ethic of our team and the teamwork,” he said. “It really makes the job easier and it makes the job a lot of fun. It’s crazy (being out on the field), I’m just in the heat of the battle. I’ll be shouting and hollering and having a good time, and other times I’ll be getting mad at guys, telling them that they missed their assignment. At the end of the day we’re just having fun, playing a game and enjoying ourselves out on the field.”
Hanna coach Mark Guess said those qualities in Esteves helped cushion the blow of what was going to be a rebuilding year, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
“We knew coming in this year that we’d have to replace a lot of people,” Guess said. “If we were going to have just one guy coming back on defense this year, that would be the guy we’d want coming back just because of his presence. He picks up the play of everybody around him, and he’s a great leader. In the 27 years I’ve been (coaching), it would be hard to find someone else who I’ve coached on either side of the ball that gave the effort day in and day out everywhere he goes.
“He gets off on the side and he’s working on dummies, he’s working on pass rush and working on his hands,” Guess added. “The effort he put in to be as good as he could be has to be unmatched by anybody else I’ve coached. It showed on the field. You don’t have too many defensive lineman running 4.7 or 4.8 that can run down a quarterback or a running back 10, 15 yards up field.”
Right now, Esteves doesn’t know what his immediate future holds, but he will put his best foot forward, even if it’s not on the football field.
“If I don’t get any scholarship offers, it’s fine with me,” Esteves said. “Coach Guess said the most valuable thing you ever leave high school with is your education. Of course, that’s what I want to pursue after high school. I want to look for the best institution to do so and follow that.”