Unlikely Hero -- Chapter 2

Kevin Collier went home that day elated because of his surprising success on the football field. He burst into the house and cried out, "Mom, Mom, wait till you
hear. Today was first football practice and you'll never guess what happened."

His mother, Donna, looked at Kevin with delight and surprise. She had been very concerned her roly-poly son would be unhappy on the football team, despite the prevailing good will and spirit of the boys in the school. "Tell me what happened, Kevin. You seem so excited. Did you score a touchdown?"

"No, mom, I didn't score a touchdown. I talked to Coach Gunther about being a kicker, and I thought that would only be placekicking, but he made me a punter too."

Donna didn't know much about football. "What place were you going to kick in? Don't you play on a football field?"

Kevin giggled. His mom was the nicest woman in the world, but sometimes she just didn't get it. "No, Mom, place kicking means kicking the ball over the goal post for points. Coach Gunther told me that punting was more important. This is what you do when it's fourth down, and you have to give up the ball to the other team. You kick the ball a long way to make them have to go a long way before they score. I'm good at it. Coach Gunther called me their "secret weapon." We practiced kicking the ball way down the field all practice. The other boys want to make sure the other team doesn't knock me on the ground."

"Why would they want to knock you on the ground? That doesn't seem very friendly."

Kevin sighed, "Mom, that's part of football. The other team is always trying to knock somebody on the ground."

"Oh, Kevin, I just don't want you to get hurt. With your dad gone, you have so much work to do here. I don't know what I would do if I could not depend on you."

Kevin deflated. His father, Don, had died the year before, doing rescue work during a flood. With a line tied around him he courageously went into a flooding stream to rescue a young boy who was clinging to an overhanging tree branch. He had reached the boy, tied a rope around him, but just as the boy had been dragged to safety, a log swept by the stream had struck Don in the head, rendering him unconscious. While the other rescuers were frantically dragging Don, toward safety, more debris struck him, and he became entangled. By the time the rescuers were able to bring Don to shore he had no pulse. Although the EMTs tried everything, they could not revive Kevin's father.

From that day life was traumatic for both Donna and Kevin. Don had been a wonderful provider, and a good husband and father. The family lived on a small farm and Don had done most of the work himself along with Donna and Kevin. Mother and son assumed the bulk of the work, but the local families were quick to help. Nonetheless, Donna knew she could not continue this way for long. Inevitably, she would have to sell the farm. Kevin meanwhile had been morose for months after his father died. The other boys tried their best to include him in their activities, but Kevin preferred to stay home and help his mother as much as he could. He tried extra hard to be the man on the farm his father had been. His failure to accomplish everything his father had made him feel like a failure. He became depressed and spent his spare time watching TV.

***

Arthur Gunther locked his office door. He had a lot to think about this year. The football program in Collinsville was very different from those everywhere else. Because of the unique culture in the farming community, he had always stressed cooperation not competition for his team. Indeed, the people in Collinsville had enough competition with the elements of nature. Besides, as time went by, the era of the successful small farm was closing. In order for all of the farmers to get by, never mind succeed, they had to pull together, and this was why the school system stressed a unity of spirit among the students. The day would come when they would have to rely on one another, and school provided the preparation for them to see that they're success and prosperity depended on one another.

Gunther had been a football player in a division three college 25 years earlier. He understood the macho spirit of football players, but he recognized that frequently players would have bad blood with one another on the same teams because of those all too human qualities of jealousy and pride. He wanted to mold his players into a team, not just a football team, but a unified body who could always depend upon one another. On the football field aggression was a necessary component of victory. Even isolated hatred toward the player opposite you could mean success instead of a failure. But Gunther did not want these feelings within his players because he feared this kind of emotion would spill over into everyday life. Of course, Gunther was an idealist.

Gunther not only was the football coach; he additionally taught English and history in the school. He and his wife Clara ran the hardware store in town. His life was bound up completely with the families of the area. He had therefore a very strong desire for them to succeed and stave off the day when their small farms must be consolidated to agribusiness. At the same time, he was interested in each of his students and players as individuals. Along with everyone else in the community, Arthur Gunther had felt the tragedy of the death of Don Collier personally. His heart ached for the sorrow that Donna and Kevin felt, and he was determined to help Kevin have success in some small way on the football field. How he was going to do it was the question.