Turning Points and Second Chances

It seemed like an oddly warmer night than usual in October as the HS Football Team started to board the bus for the 2 hours ride to the out of town football game. This was an important game for the team boarding the bus that afternoon as it was against an old arch rival. A great deal depended on the outcome of that game for both schools, as both were highly ranked in the state in their classes, but even more so, because for the past several years the game had ended in a tie. Neither team wanted that outcome again that year, least of all the visitors who were boarding that bus.

As one young man got ready to hop on the bus the Head Coach lightly tapped him on the shoulder and said…” I want to be able to reach out my arm in any direction and grab you at a moments notice tonight, so stay close by. If I can’t reach you I’ll have you running wind sprints in practice next week”. He smiled a smile that told the young man he was joking but sending a message that was well understood.

The bus ride seemed eerily quiet that early evening. Usually the bus was raucous with noise as players talked about assignments or opposing players, strategies or plays, each meant to utilize strengths and maximize the opponent’s weaknesses. But on this trip there was only a scattering of chatter. Mostly hushed conversations talking about the week’s practice and new plays installed especially for this game.

Halfway thru the ride one of the Assistant Coaches came over and sat down next to the young man whom the head Coach had spoken to and began to chat with him. It was small talk to begin with, mostly about what they had practiced that week….attention to detail…eye on the ball…don’t let anything distract you. But then the conversation turned as the Assistant Coach said…”Son, I’m no fortune-teller, but something in me says that tonight all that you have practiced on doing all year, will suddenly become more important to this team. Just remember, focus on what you do best, and everything else will fall into place.” And with that he stood up and walked back to the front of the bus to sit with the other coaches.

As the Assistant Coach walked away the young man realized, for once, someone had truly believed in him. His mind drifted back to a couple of months earlier when High School football practices had started and all the young men had gathered to try out for the team. The Head Coach brought all the young men together and gave the same speech he did every year about football being a team sport and building character. Then the process of separating young men into what positions best suited their talents began, and depth charts were formed. The young man tried several spots, none of which seemed to suit his particular talent. As luck would have it he landed at Split End, way down the depth charts. But somehow he had found his way onto the Team, in an altogether different position…one that he, along with guidance from the Assistant Coach, had found a particular knack for.

As the bus arrived at its destination at the small college stadium where the game would be played, and the team headed to the locker room, it still remained a quiet group. The team went to the field to do their normal pre-game warm up and then filed back in to get into their game uniforms. It seemed as if, once the team started getting dressed, the mood changed and the player’s game face took shape. The Senior Class members, the appointed leaders of the football team, took charge and began the task of firing up the team. As game time arrived, the Head Coach gave his small speech, and they all gathered for a prayer before taking the field.

True to form, the game was a battle that was hard-fought with neither team getting more than a 7 point lead before being tied again. Going into the last minutes of the 4th Quarter the scored was tied 22-22 and it seemed that, like the years before, the game could end in a tie as neither team gained ground. But with just 2 minutes left in the game, a series of events happened forever changing the life of that particular young man.

With the young mans team driving down the field for what appeared could be the winning score, a pass was intercepted by the opposing team, pretty much appearing to stop the momentum. But the opposing team, knowing that a tie would hurt their chances at a state title (and probably wanting a tie even less than the young mans team) hurried their offense onto the field to try to mount their own scoring drive. As the opposing teams Quarterback dropped back for a pass he was hurried into a throw by a fierce rush of the defense. His errant pass fell right into the hands of the Linebacker who promptly ran it back several yards before getting out of bounds to stop the clock. What had just a few moments before seemed like a deflated team, suddenly the young mans team had new life.

There were but 11 seconds left in the game…

The Head Coach hurriedly called a play, a pass over the middle that just missed its target. The Coaching Staff on the sideline quickly mulled over a running play meant to move the ball to the middle of the field but quickly dismissed that idea because the team had no more timeouts.

There were but 7 seconds left in the game…

Then,as if to wake the young man from the dream that he was witness to unfolding before him,the Head Coach turned to the Assistant Coach and said “It’s time…send him out there.” After some final words of encouragement from the Assistant Coach , the young man trotted onto the field. Already nervous as he reached the middle of the field, the same Senior Linebacker that had moments before intercepted the errant pass stopped the young man and said, “do it man…you know you can do this”

The young man reached the huddle and looked around at the faces, most of them Seniors who wanted nothing more than to win…just win…this hard fought game. The Holder called the play, set the formation, and the team broke the huddle. The players from both teams lined up, and the referee placed the ball down. Each team got set…the Snapper gripped the ball tightly….the Holder started the snap count, and the ball was snapped.


As the young man stepped forward he could feel something wasn’t right…the whole motion just didn’t seem as it always had when all went right. As he swung thru the ball and watched as it went soaring towards the goal his heart dropped and he saw that the ball was headed wide right.”No Good” was the signal he could see from the official under the goal post. Dejectedly the young man bowed his head, and slowly headed to the sideline. Fearing that he had let down those people who had believed in him, he truly wanted to head to the locker room instead of the sideline. He couldn’t bear to look up, for fear he would see the disappointment in the faces of his teammates who had struggled mightily for the win.

After a few steps, a hand from behind stopped his forward motion, and he heard from nowhere…” a penalty….there’s a penalty flag over there….someone jumped offside …don’t go anywhere man” the Holder said. The young man looked up to see a bright yellow flag laying to the left of where the formation was and the officials gathered around to discuss the call. Relief set in briefly for him, but was immediately replaced with anxiety as he looked to the sideline and saw the Head Coach and Assistant Coach discussing what appeared to be the next move. For what appeared to be an eternity for the young man, he stared at the conversation at the sideline, worried what was being said. In what could only be described as waiting for the Jury Foreman to read the verdict the young man watched as a player trotted from the sidelines with a message from the Coach. Fearing the worst the young man prepared for what he would hear upon the arrival of his team mate.

As the player from the sideline joined the loosely huddled group of players on the field, he looked to the Kicker, then looked to the Wide Receiver, and said… “Coach says I am in for you…we’re going to try the field goal again”. The Kicker breathed a sigh of relief and the team huddled up, prepping for the next play. As the officials marked off the penalty yards that moved the ball closer to the goal post, the Holder took the young Kicker aside and said…”we both know what we did wrong last time…my hold wasn’t right and your steps weren’t right…you looked up and I looked away. I’ll do mine right, and you do yours right and we’ll both be celebrating”. The Kicker looked at the Holder, a Senior who had been his constant support all year and realized what he was doing. The Holder had done nothing wrong with the previous kick, all the errors were made by the Kicker, not him. But the Holder was teaching him a lesson not lost, even to this day, for the Kicker.

There were but 3 Seconds left in the game...

The Teams gathered once more at the line of scrimmage, and the Referee placed the ball down. The Center grabbed the ball firmly and prepared to make the snap…..the Holder got himself placed firmly in the line of sight for the Center/Snapper….and the Kicker took his 2 steps back and to the right, eyes firmly fixed on the spot where the holder would place the ball. The snap count started and the ball was snapped…..

It was a deafening silence that fell upon the ears of the Kicker as he started his motion….and this time it all felt right…mechanical…head down…foot placed firmly next to the spot where the ball would be placed by the Holder…kick the ball…follow through….and never look up.

As he had done many times before on extra points, the Kicker listened for the reaction of his Holder before showing any emotion. What happened in those next few moments to this day still stays as fresh in his memory as if they happened just yesterday. The ball sailed cleanly thru the middle of the uprights and the Kickers team ran onto the field to celebrate.

As most of you who know me are already aware, that young man was me. And for me, that moment in time was what I call a pivotal point in my life. But not just for the glory or exhilaration I felt at that time, and still feel today when I listen to the broadcast of that game. (My Mother made a cassette copy of the game for me when they replayed the broadcast the next morning) It was a pivotal point because for me it taught me about what I call in my life, Turning Points and Second Chances.

The Turning Point for me was 2 months prior when, thinking I had no shot at making the Team, I wandered over to the practice field to kick field goals out of frustration. As I practiced kicking, like I always had when doing that same exercise in the empty lot next to the Parsonage in my small town, one of the Assistant Coaches, Ed Bush noticed me. It was Coach Bush’s guidance and support of me that led me to my career as the Kicker in High School that jumped started my participation in athletics at that level and helped me come out of the shadow of my older brother. (He also unwittingly pinned both of my nicknames on me that stuck with me all thru High School and even to this very day.)

As for Second Chances…to this day, I still do not know what was said between Coach Bush and Head Coach Vic Bonuchi after that first miss. I have heard bits and pieces from different people, and when I asked Coach Bush later, all he would ever tell me was there was no hesitation on Coach Bonuchi’s part to go for the field goal again. I can’t help but think that somewhere in his mind, with an All-State Running Back and All Conference players at Quarterback, Tight End and Offensive Line that he wasn’t tempted to go for a running or pass play. But what I want to believe, and what played out, was the both men decided that not only did they believe in me, but they believed in the very philosophy that they taught us while teaching us the game of football. Sometimes in life we succeed and sometimes we fail…it’s how we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and handle the “second chances” we are given that makes us the men we are.

I don’t know if either of those men truly know how they positively affected my life, and I feel a bit embarrassed that I never have told them. But knowing both of them, I would guess each would have said…..”you always had it in you, I just helped you bring it out”.