Football Team from Max Security Lockup Receives Huge Surprise from Opponent

[Stiker]

This story is simply amazing. Kudos to the coach for putting this together for those kids. I'm sure it is going to be something they all won't soon forget.

Rick Reilly: Gainesville State high school football gets the best gift of all, hope - ESPN The Magazine

Life of Reilly

There are some games where cheering for the other side feels better than winning.

by Rick Reilly
http://assets.espn.go.com/i/mag/blog/1223reilly.jpg
Gainesville State players douse head coach Mark Williams in celebration.
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They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team's fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions

It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.

"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"

And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."

Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, "Coach, why are we doing this?"

And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!

"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why they cheerin' for us?'"

It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"

Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us."

And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.

The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, "You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."

And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

Hope.

[Tyche]

Rick Reilly is a God amoung journalists.

[Sepukku]

Rick Reilly always wrote the best stories, covered the best topics, had the best style. SI was an idiot to not offer him enough to keep him from ESPN. Great story though, very touching.

[Stumblingdrunk]

This was even more touching than "Ugly" the cat from the random image thread

[MrW]

Once again Rick Reilly doesn't let me down. I read this a little while ago. It's nice to hear a story of this nature. I'm tired of hearing how Plax shoots himself, Jets players throwing snow boulders at fans, probations because of banned substance usage, contract extentions, etc. This is a nice reprieve from all the bullshit we hear about everyday in the world of sports.

[ferigor]

Really cool story. Awesome effort on the part of the coach, and of the fans to follow through. Just one of those "Wow." things you read everyone now and then.

[Akiyama]

Yeah, Such a great story, and a good thing to do for those kids.

[Khamsin]

Not to play devil's advocate here, but why did they feel the need to do something nice for a group of people that society should probably be turning their backs to? They aren't exactly the nicest people, and aren't worth much to anybody given their growing criminal record at such a young age.

They should probably realize that people will continue to shun and disrespect them until they get their act together and do some good. Once they stop getting into trouble and can demonstrate a productive, crime-free life, then they can earn the respect of society.

[pohibaba]

They're still just kids. They still have the chance to make anything of their lives. Something like this just gives them the hope that not everyone will judge them on what they did in their past, but will judge them based upon the changes they make in the future. Basically, it gives them a reason to try and turn their lives around.

[Khamsin]

They're still just kids. They still have the chance to make anything of their lives. Something like this just gives them the hope that not everyone will judge them on what they did in their past, but will judge them based upon the changes they make in the future. Basically, it gives them a reason to try and turn their lives around.

How do you know it won't just send the message "it's ok if you're thugs, we still care about you"?

They had a chance to be respected and loved, but threw it away when they chose to do all that shit they got thrown in jail for. They saw the effect it had: their parents began disrespecting them and disowned them, society began shunning them, they got left behind, abandoned and treated like dog poop on the bottom of a shoe. All because of what they did.

What they really need is some positive reinforcement when they do good things. I'm not sure losing at a doomed football match with a horrible coach really qualifies, but if they could get praise for community service or something, that might be a step in the right direction. Maybe next time they're picking up trash in the park, some old lady can say "Good job, I appreciate the work you're doing" and that'll have the appropriate positive influence.

[Akiyama]

Now I'm one for publicly shaming someone with the next guy, but how do we know all of them have earned what they got? Could be some kids that were at the wrong place at the wrong time... just got mixed up with the wrong crowd, but have learned their lessons, and what not. You'd think something like this would be a turning point in a young person's life. Never know.

[ZarakiKujata]

Isn't this like the exact plot of a movie about football starring Dwayne Johnson?

[archibaldcrane]

They had a chance to be respected and loved, but threw it away when they chose to do all that shit they got thrown in jail for. They saw the effect it had: their parents began disrespecting them and disowned them, society began shunning them, they got left behind, abandoned and treated like dog poop on the bottom of a shoe. All because of what they did.

...

What is it that makes you so confident that these kids had respect and parents who loved them and didn't abandon them or treat them "like dog poop" before they started doing criminal activity?

I'd be surprised if 25% of these kids had fathers that didn't abandon them when they were young.

[Olo401]

What an absolutely beautiful story.

[Headspace]

ITT: Everything is black and white according to Khamsin.

[archibaldcrane]

Hey, if you wanna go the black and white angle i know you meant metaphorically we can work that too - 48% of black kids in America grow up without their father in the home.

[Headspace]

and 48% of the people in the picture were black, therefore all black people are criminals.

[Akiyama]

I'M WHITE AND I HAD NO FATHER AT HOME. WHAT THEN.

[Khamsin]

Hey, if you wanna go the black and white angle i know you meant metaphorically we can work that too - 48% of black kids in America grow up without their father in the home.

On a side note, it is interesting how the following two statements are both accurate:

48% of black kids in America grow up without their father in the home.

The majority of black kids in America grow up with their father in the home.

Anyways, you people should know by now I tend to post in extremes on topics like this. I know they probably had less than glamorous lives before getting thrown in jail, but they need positive reinforcement for doing good things, not losing at football games. It was a nice sentiment, but try sending them out for community service or something and praising them for a good job.

[archibaldcrane]

Pretty sure they were getting cheered on for playing hard in a football game - something that all kids playing organized sports deserve. If they'd won the game would that make the cheering going on during it more justified?

What kind of monster are you? Lol.

Also, playing organized sports has innumerable positive statistical effects on kids - graduation rates, incarceration rates, grades, etc. etc. etc. are all improved by engaging in this activity. This is something that should be encouraged, i.e. cheered on, whether the kid has a criminal past or not.