special relationship. The father believed in encouragement. Even
though the son was always on the bench, his father was always in the
stands cheering. He nevermissed a game.
This young man was the smallest of the class whenhe entered high school.
His father continued to encourage him but also made it very clear that
hedid 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 would get
to play when he became a senior.
All through high school he never missed a practice or a game, but
remained a bench warmer all four years. Hisfaithful father was always
in the stands, always with words of encouragement for him. When the
young man went to college, he decided to try out for thefootball team
as a"walk-on."
Everyone was sure he could never make the cut, but he did. The
coachadmitted that he kept him on the roster because he always puts
his heart and soul to every practice, and at thesame time, provided
the other members with the spirit and hustle they badly needed. The
news that he had survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed
to the nearest phone and calledhis 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 the
game.
It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto
the practice field shortly before the big play off game, the coach met
him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and he became
deathly silent.
Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach,"My father died this morning.
Is it all right if I miss practice today?"
The coach put his arm gently around 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 thegame 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 his players
were astounded to see their faithful team-mate back so soon.
"Coach, please let me play. I have just got to play today," said the young man.
The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no way he wanted his
worst player in this close playoff game. But the young man persisted,
and finally feeling sorry for young man, the coachgave in. "All
right," he said. "You can go in." Before long, the coach, the players
and everyonein the stands could not believe their eyes. This little
unknown, who had never played before, wasdoing everything right. The
opposing team couldnot stop him. He ran, he passed, blocked and
tackled like a star. His team began to triumph.
The score was soon tied. In the closing seconds of the game, this
young man intercepted a pass and ran all the way for the winning
touchdown. The fans broke loose. His team-mates hoisted him onto their
shoulders. Such cheering you have never heard!
Finally, after the stands had emptied and the team had showered and
left the locker room, the coach noticed that the young man was sitting
quietly in the corner all alone. The coach came to him and said,
"Young man, I can't believe it. You were fantastic! Tell me what got
into you? How did you do it?"
Young man looked at the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said,
"Well, you knew 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 thefirst time he could see meplay, and I wanted
to show him I could do it!"
Remember:
*."Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try."
*."Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by
peoplewho have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."
*."Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimescourage is the quiet voice at
the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow."
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