Touch Down's Syndrome

[Trekker4747]

STORY LINK

Matt Ziesel doesn’t stray far from coach Dan McCamy on the sidelines during St. Joseph Benton High School’s freshman football games. He likes to stay within earshot.

“I’m ready, Coach. … Coach, I’m ready,” Ziesel says.McCamy says he hears it about 10 times a game, and also at practices, from Ziesel, his 5-foot-3, 110-pound running back.

So in the final stages of Benton’s third game of the season on Monday at Maryville, McCamy decided it was time for Ziesel — a 15-year-old freshman with Down syndrome — to make his season debut.

With about 10 seconds left in the game, and Benton trailing 46-0, McCamy called his final timeout, told an assistant coach to organize the team for the “Matt play” and ran across the field to the Maryville defensive huddle — and to some puzzled looks from the opposing players.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ylwXOxKb7I[/yt]​

Really, this is a nifty and heart-warming little story.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

So...he made the touchdown and everything, that's great...but how much of an accomplishment is it if they just let him do it? I dunno, it's a nice gesture from the coach and the teams involved I guess.

 

[Timby]

So...he made the touchdown and everything, that's great...but how much of an accomplishment is it if they just let him do it?

The kid is mentally crippled through no fault of his own. He'll never be able to play on a football team, find a hole in the line and burst through for a huge gain, score the winning touchdown in a critical situation, and so on. He's going to need assisted living for the entirety of his life. But it's clear that he absolutely loves football and wants nothing more than to play in a game.

So, presented with a blowout, Ziesel's coach (and, to be fair, the opposing team's coach) decided to give him his opportunity for what will likely be one of the most defining moments of his life. It's basically those football teams' equivalent of granting a wish for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

So, I have to say, I really don't get your mad-on, Flux.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

I'm not mad about it, I'm just thinking it would be a much more "heart-warming" had he actually made the play all on his own, despite his disabilities. Maybe I've watched a few too many Hollywood sports underdog movies, though.

 

[JAG]

What a great thing they did. He will never forget that day.

 

[jamestyler]

I'm not mad about it, I'm just thinking it would be a much more "heart-warming" had he actually made the play all on his own, despite his disabilities. Maybe I've watched a few too many Hollywood sports underdog movies, though.

I thought the same - actually I thought of the Waterboy, but without the success story part of it.

Still... it's a day he'll never forget.

 

[T'Baio]

I hope Matt Ziesel wins an Oscar! I mean, apparently he's only got a touch of the Down's, he hasn't gone full retard.