FERRIDAY — Football is everything to Freddie Mango Jr.

When the Delta Charter running back is not practicing or working out at the gym, he likes to watch film from old games, finding his mistakes and rethinking plays.

“I just love everything about it,” he said. “I love the energy of it, making touchdowns, outsmarting the other teams.”

As he enters his senior year, Mango said his thoughts are preoccupied with what comes next.

“I’m thinking about offers,” he said. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

On the academic side, Mango is all set. He plans to major in engineering — though what specific branch he is not yet sure — and, after college, his back-up plan is to work right at home in Ferriday or Vidalia.

“I’d like to work with my father,” Mango said. “But that’s my back up. Like a lot of us, my main goal is to make it to the NFL.”

As ambitious as the dream may be, Mango said he believes he can make it.

Mango has played football since he was only 6 years old, and he said he has the passion to turn it into a career.

“I like the challenge,” he said. “I’ve been getting ready. I’ve been talking to people who have been in my position before, where it’s their last day to play sports before they go off into the big world. I’m confident.”

But some fears are drawing him home, too.  His mother, Shelia Dye and father Freddie Mango Sr. both live close.

“I have family everywhere,” he said. “But my mom’s family, they’re all here.”

Mango said he is not frightened of going from a small school to a campus teeming with a few thousand classmates; he is prepared for that.

As the phone calls come pouring in from Tulane, the University of Southern Mississippi, University of Arkansas and the University of Florida, among others, Mango said he worries about the time he will spend away from his four siblings and his parents.

“I’m worried I’m going to be gone,” he said. “I’ll miss everything.”

If he gets his dream — if Freddie Mango becomes a National Football League player — he will be away from home even more often.

“I worry about that, too,” he said. “I’m going to go to the best school that offers, but it’s hard to go away from my family.”

Either way — whether he makes his way to the NFL or becomes an engineer — Mango said he wants to come back to his hometown.

“I want to help kids,” he said. “I want to give them the things I didn’t have and help them make the most of their passion.”

All of those plans and hopes, however, are in the future. Mango said for now, he is just going to worry about making the most of his passion.