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Boy and his Blind Father

This teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a
very special relationship.

The son was crazy about football and was always involved in every game
but even though
he was always on the bench, his
father was always in the stands cheering. He never missed a game. This
young man was still
the smallest of the class when he
entered high school. But his father continued to encourage him but also
made it very clear
that he did not have to play football
if he didn't want to. However, 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 became 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 him.

When the young man went to 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 on
the roster because
he always puts his heart and soul to
every practice and at the same 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 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 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 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. 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 the kid, the coach gave in.
"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
un-known, who had never played before was doing everything right. The
opposing team
could not 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 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! 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, "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 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!"

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