October 21, 2011

Touchdown!

Hey readers! Happy Friday. Today's submission (the first of its kind!!) comes from Tara. She writes:

The "Life of Reilly" column in Sports Illustrated, written by Rick Reilly, way back in November 2002 was a story of absolute awesomeness. I came across it again recently and had to share it.

The article tells the story of 17-year-old Jake Porter, a special-needs high school student. His school's football team and the opposing team team-up to give him a chance to score a touchdown. It also tells of how it reverberated through the communities and inspired other acts of kindness. A very sweet story that brought tears to my eyes and warmed my heart.


From the Sports Illustrated Column:

Jake Porter is 17, but he can't read, can barely scrawl his first name and often mixes up the letters at that. So how come we're all learning something from him?

In three years on the Northwest High football team, in McDermott, Ohio, Jake had never run with the ball. Or made a tackle. He'd barely ever stepped on the field. That's about right for a kid with chromosomal fragile X syndrome, a disorder that is a common cause of mental retardation.

But every day after school Jake, who attends special-ed classes, races to Northwest team practices: football, basketball, track. Never plays, but seldom misses one.

 That's why it seemed crazy when, with five seconds left in a recent game that Northwest was losing 42-0, Jake trotted out to the huddle. The plan was for him to get the handoff and take a knee.

Keywords being, that WAS the plan...

Read More 



Thank you so much for sharing this Tara. It is so inspirational and heart warming. What a perfect story to end the week on. 


Come on, you have an idea, a submission, a Good Samaritan story to tell, don't you!? I'd love to hear them and feature them right here on Nobody Need Wait.

3 comments:

  1. That's very sweet. I like how that one act of kindness had a ripple effect,

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  2. That is a really great story. Thanks for sharing.

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