I Have Faith In You

A teenager whose heart was in football, lived alone with his mother. Even though the son was always on the bench, his mother was always in the stands cheering. She never missed a game. All through high school he never missed a practice nor a game, but remained a bench warmer all four years. His faithful mother was always in the stands, always with words of encouragement for him.

At college, he decided to try out for the football team as a “walk-on.” Everyone was sure he could never make the cut, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him in because of his commitment to the game. The news that he had survived cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called up his mother.

It was the end of his senior football season, and he had still never played during his four years at college, as he trotted onto the practice field shortly before the big playoff game, the coach met him with a telegram. Reading it, he became deathly silent. Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, “My mother 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 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 his 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 young man.

Much against his will, the coach gave in to his persistence. “All right,” he said. “You can go in.” Before long, the coach, the players and everyone in the stands 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, blocked and tackled like a star. His team began to triumph. The score was soon 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’ve never heard!

After the game the coach came 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 my mom died, but did you know that my mom was blind?” The young man swallowed hard and forced a smile, “Mom came to all my games, but today was the first time she could see me play, and I wanted to show her I COULD DO IT!”