David Cutcliffe

That's good stuff!

I know its not on the same level but I coached youth football for 20 years, I had teams ranging from 3rd grade to 8th grade. We had some good teams, made the playoffs more often than not and won one city championship. I tried to teach the kids life lessons, I wanted them to be respectful and attentive to what's really important in life.

I remember one game in particular, August 29, 2004 - it was our first game of the year and we beat a team that always gave us problems. The kids were all excited and when we got into our post game huddle I decided I wasn't going to talk about the game - I was going to talk about mothers. A year earlier, my mom had passed away on August 29. So I told the boys, this was a group of 5th graders, that I was proud of them for winning the game but I'd be even more proud of them if after they game, they ran across the field, gave their mom a big hug and told her that you love her. I told them my mom had died last year and i sure wished i could give her a hug and tell her i loved her. I always told them to never think you're too cool to say I love you to your mom - she's the most important person in your life and you need to be respectful to her, no one will ever love you like your mom.

So I looked around and all these kids were staring at me like i was crazy, a couple of my coaches had tears in their eyes and we did our team cheer and off they went. Later that night i got several e-mails from mothers thanking me for what I had said - they said the boys do listen to me. I considered that a bigger triumph than the game.

and even today, i have kids come up to me and hug me, thank me for the messages I passed on to them. some of them have kids of their own. That's the payoff, it's not the wins - its having an impact, its making a difference in a young person's life. I haven't coached for 4 years now but I still love it when one of my former players comes up to me and calls me Coach.