Senior Spotlight: Danny Carroll

Starting senior year in a new school, in a completely new environment can be challenging and overwhelming, but Danny Carroll sees it as a new chapter in life and a chance to make new friends and new memories. Danny has been playing football since the age of three and had the opportunity to play as a quarterback for his first three years of high school before moving to Marco Island Academy. Danny has always enjoyed playing contact sports and with his family members playing football it was easy for him to quickly fall in love with the sport and give it a try himself. Football has taught Danny the importance of discipline and when you get knocked down, to get back up and fight harder. 

Although the season didn’t go as the team had planned, Danny and the rest of the seniors kept the underclassmen motivated by showing them football isn’t all about winning. Danny believes “it’s about working harder every day to become better and pushing through the pain to become stronger than the day before.” Danny has enjoyed bonding with his teammates and pushing each other to work harder. One of Danny’s most memorable experiences from this past season was when the team got together for a kayak trip to build their bond and have a little fun off the field. Sophomore year was a big year on the field for Danny and his team back in Chicago. Danny and his team put in months of hard work and ended up winning state, making all their hard work pay off in the end.  

Apart from football, Danny spends a lot of time in the boxing ring. Although football will always be Danny’s favorite sport to play, he also enjoys the very structured sport of boxing. The one-on-one sport can only go wrong if you mess it up. Danny was inspired to start boxing by his grandpa who was a Golden Gloves boxer. Danny wanted to follow in his footsteps. When he isn’t in the ring or on the field, he is most likely spending quality time with family. Danny can also be found working out in the gym with his friends. Every Sunday Danny attends San Marco Catholic church where he continues to grow his relationship with the Lord. Spending time growing in his faith is a huge part of Danny’s life and he finds it is very important that he sets time aside to focus on his relationship with God. 

As a senior, finding the time to balance schoolwork, sports, and enjoying free time can be very difficult and oftentimes very stressful. For Danny, having a structured schedule to follow is the easiest way to balance time between school, sports, family, and physical and mental health.

After graduation Danny plans to attend a 4-year college to pursue chiropractic study to work towards his chiropractic degree. Growing up Danny has had his fair share of bone issues, and he is very passionate about helping others who may struggle with the same problems. Although Danny is still deciding where he will be attending school next fall he is willing to work hard to meet his goals and do whatever it takes to get there and as he says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”