The Football Player

Bob Richards, the former pole-vaulting champion, shares a moving story about a skinny young boy who loved football with all his heart. Practice after practice, he eagerly gave everything he had, but, being half the size of the other boys, he got absolutely nowhere. At every game, this hopeful athlete sat on the bench and had hardly ever played.

This teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a very special relationship. Even though the son was always on the bench, his father was always in the stands cheering. He never missed a game.

This young man was the smallest of the class when he entered high school. His father continued to encourage him, but also made it clear that he did not have to play football if he didn't want to. But the young man loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best at every practice, and perhaps he'd get to play when he was a senior.

All through high school he never missed a practice nor a game, but remained a bench-warmer all four years. His faithful father was always in the stands, always with words of encouragement for his son.

When the young man went to college, he decided to to try out for the football team as a "walk-on." Everyone was sure he would never make the cut, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him on the roster because he always put his heart and soul into every practice, and at the same time, provided the other members with spirit and hustle they badly needed.

The news that he survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father. His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games.

This persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to play in a single game.

It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto the practice field before the big playoff game, the coach met him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and he became deathly silent. Swallowing hard, he mumbled to his coach, "My father died this morning. Is it all right if I miss practice today?" The coach put his arm gently around the his shoulder and said, "Take the rest of the week off, son. And don't even plan to come back to the game on Saturday."

Saturday arrived, and the game was not going well. In the third quarter, when the team was ten points behind, a silent young man quietly slipped into the empty locker room and put on his football gear. As he ran onto the sidelines, the coach and players were astounded to see their faithful teammate back so soon. "Coach, please let me play. I've just got to play today." said the the young man. The coach pretended not to hear hear him. There was no way he wanted his worst player to play in this close playoff game. But the young man persisted, and finally, feeling sorry for the kid, the coach gave in. "All right," he said, "you can go in."

Before long the coach and players could not believe their eyes. This little unknown, who had never played before, was doing everything right. The opposing team could not stop him. He ran, he passed, he blocked, and he tackled like he was a star. His team began to triumph. The score was tied. In the closing seconds of the game, this kid intercepted a pass and ran all the way for the winning touchdown. The fans broke loose. His teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders. Such cheering you never heard. Finally, after the stands emptied, the team had showered and left the locker room, the coach noticed that this young man was sitting quietly in the corner all alone. The coach came up to him and said, "Kid, I can't believe it. You were fantastic! Tell me - what got into you? How did you do it?"

He looked at the coach with tears in his eyes, and said, "Well, you knew that my dad died, but did you know that my dad was blind?" The young man swallowed hard and forced a smile. "Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him I could do it."

http://www.geocities.com/ransome/inspire/football.html

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