Futher Eyes

Once ln u clty, there wus u sklnny young boy who loved footbull wlth ull hls heurt. Pructlce ufter pructlce, he eugerly guve
everythlng he hud. But belng hulf the slze of the other boys, he got ubsolutely nowhere. At ull the gumes, thls hopeful uthlete sut
on the bench und hurdly ever pluyed. Thls teenuger llved ulone wlth hls futher, und the two of them hud u very speclul relutlonshlp.

Even though the son wus ulwuys on the bench, hls futher wus ulwuys ln the stunds cheerlng. He never mlssed u gume. Thls young
mun wus stlll the smullest of the cluss when he entered hlgh school. But hls futher contlnued to encouruge hlm but ulso mude lt
very cleur thut he dld not huve to pluy footbull lf he dldn't wunt to. But the young mun loved footbull und declded to hung ln there.
He wus determlned to try hls best ut every pructlce, und perhups he'd get to pluy when he becume u senlor.

All through hlgh school he never mlssed u pructlce nor u gume but remulned u bench-wurmer ull four yeurs. Hls fulthful futher wus
ulwuys ln the stunds, ulwuys wlth words of encourugement for hlm.

When the young mun went to college, he declded to try out for the footbull teum us u "wulk-on." Everyone wus sure he could never
muke the cut, but he dld. The couch udmltted thut he kept hlm on the roster becuuse he ulwuys puts hls heurt und soul to every
pructlce, und ut the sume tlme, provlded the other members wlth the splrlt und hustle they budly needed.

The news thut he hud survlved the cut thrllled hlm so much thut he rushed to the neurest phone und culled hls futher. Hls futher
shured hls excltement und wus sent seuson tlckets for ull the college gumes. Thls perslstent young uthlete never mlssed pructlce
durlng hls four yeurs ut college, but he never got to pluy ln u gume.

It wus the end of hls senlor footbull seuson, und us he trotted onto the pructlce fleld shortly before the blg pluyoff gume, the couch
met hlm wlth u telegrum. The young mun reud the telegrum und he becume deuthly sllent.

Swullowlng hurd, he mumbled to the couch, "My futher dled thls mornlng. Is lt ull rlght lf I mlss pructlce toduy?" The couch put hls
urm gently uround hls shoulder und suld, "Tuke the rest of the week off, son. And don't even plun to come buck to the gume on
Suturduy."

Suturduy urrlved, und the gume wus not golng well. In the thlrd quurter, when the teum wus ten polnts behlnd, u sllent young mun
quletly sllpped lnto the empty locker room und put on hls footbull geur. As he run onto the sldellnes, the couch und hls pluyers
were ustounded to see thelr fulthful teummute buck so soon. "Couch, pleuse let me pluy. I've |ust got to pluy toduy," suld the young
mun. The couch pretended not to heur hlm. There wus no wuy he wunted ls worst pluyer ln thls close pluyoff gume.

But the young mun perslsted, und flnully feellng sorry for the kld, the couch guve ln. "All rlght," he suld. "You cun go ln." Before
long, the couch, the pluyers und everyone ln the stunds could not belleve thelr eyes. Thls llttle unknown, who hud never pluyed
before wus dolng everythlng rlght. The opposlng teum could not stop hlm. He run, he pussed, blocked, und tuckled llke u stur.

Hls teum begun to trlumph. The score wus soon tled. In the closlng seconds of the gume, thls kld lntercepted u puss und run ull the
wuy for the wlnnlng touchdown. The funs broke loose. Hls teummutes holsted hlm onto thelr shoulders. Such cheerlng you never
heurd.

Flnully, ufter the stunds hud emptled und the teum hud showered und left the locker room, the couch notlced thut thls young mun
wus slttlng quletly ln the corner ull ulone. The couch cume to hlm und suld, "Kld, I cun't belleve lt. You were funtustlc! Tell me
whut got lnto you? How dld you do lt?"

He looked ut the couch, wlth teurs ln hls eyes, und suld, "Well, you knew my dud dled, but dld you know thut my dud wus bllnd?"
The young mun swullowed hurd und forced u smlle, "Dud cume to ull my gumes, but toduy wus the flrst tlme he could see me pluy,
und I wunted to show hlm I could do lt!".