In 1969 I was a freshman in college and playing football for a not so very good team at our local college. Sometimes a coach can put all the pieces together and a team will meld into one that will over-achieve, winning games they shouldn't win and baffling all of the so-called experts. And, while we had our share of small successes, we were most certainly not an over-achieving team!
Our coach was dealing with some "off the field" legal issues that came to light much later, and all of us were aware that for some reason he had lost interest in a team that was struggling. Regardless of our dismal season my teammates were a great bunch of guys, and there was no quitting in any of them. If anything, the adversity helped to unite us both on and off the field.
After a particularly disappointing loss about midway through the season, we had to endure the dreaded film review where every play was dissected and discussed. Run it forward at regular speed, rewind it to look at it again in slo-mo, then pick it apart piece by piece, player by player.....a really thick skin helped to endure the painful process, but typically there was no place to hide.
On this late October evening three of us were gathered outside the building, sitting on a wall and licking our wounds after a scathing review of our inept play, when we heard a scream from across the street. A real scream, from someone in trouble.
Now remember, we were in a small Kansas town at a time when this would have been a very rare occurrence. In fact, I'm not sure I had ever heard a real scream, and it took all of us a couple of seconds to react. We saw someone running away and someone lying on the sidewalk.
Suddenly all of the aches and pains disappeared, the sting of our coaches' sharp words were forgotten, and we became that well-oiled machine that we rarely experienced on the football field. We were off the retaining wall in a flash, making decisions and shouting directions as we ran, "Tommy, you check on her! Bill and I will go get him...."
All we had seen was a young man in a red jacket running down the alley, but there was never any doubt that we would catch him.....We didn't. He was gone. Disappeared somewhere into the dark recesses of the edge of downtown. Lucky for him, for I feel that a lot of pent up frustrations would have found there way to the surface that night.
We finally gave up the chase and trotted back to where our teammate Tommy was still trying to comfort the elderly lady, who was now sitting on the sidewalk, unhurt but minus her purse and her dignity. Other than a few scrapes she was fine, and very thankful for our efforts.
For the first time in a long time we felt good about ourselves.
The local newspaper did a nice article about the football players who came to the rescue of the victim and tried to chase down the culprit.
For a little while, we were more than just teammates on a losing football team, we were a few guys trying to do the right thing. I've forgotten most of the details about that football season, but I still have a warm feeling when I think about helping someone who was in trouble.....I think it showed the true character of the players on that team, but what do I know.
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