Jonathan Paul Manziel has essentially become my favorite person on the planet. Why? He makes the most out of what he has been given both on and off the field. When one watches Texas A&M warm up, the first question an observer incredulously asks is, “That’s Him?!?!”. He is anything but overwhelming in stature, doesn’t wow you with his throwing motion or arm strength, doesn’t appear to be the fastest player on the field, but the truth is the guy is just great. He maximizes everything he has and creates something special. Off the field, he seems to be readily aware that this will be the greatest time of his life and is not going to miss a minute of it. Hey, according to Wikipedia, he is a Business Major and clearly is just making a business decision to strike while the iron is hot (Ask Tebow or Kodak, you’re stock is only at a peak once). I like to imagine that he and his best friend wrote a list before the 2012 season of things that he was going to accomplish that season, and it went something like this:
Best Friend: Heisman trophy?
Johnny F’ing Football: Check.
BF: Girlfriend so hot it hurts and has no business being with you saved for the fact that you have aforementioned Heisman Trophy?
JFF: Check Plus.
BF: Become friends with the most famous and best athletes on the Planet?
JFF: Dude c’mon you follow me on Twitter.
BF: Take a picture on 4/20 with your Heisman Trophy holding a joint?
JFF: (Smirking) My official comment is that picture was photoshopped...
BF: Play Pebble Beach, and then tweet out your scorecard showing you broke 80?
JFF: Done and done.
BF: Casually tweet out that on your days off you play golf with country music stars, and then you and smoke stack girlfriend star in one of their music videos?
JFF: Please that’s just a Tuesday for Johnny Football.
I could continue, but I am fairly certain that if you haven’t decided to stop reading, you would very shortly. I have always labeled Manziel as a “Hero”, and the sarcastic, half-joking/half-jealous (mostly jealous) I will continue to do so. But then you read a story (watch a movie) about someone who truly is a hero, and it makes you (me) reconsider how liberally you use the word “hero”.
Now I am not saying Manziel’s last 10 months are anything short of heroic. Setting aside his play on the field, anyone who has the Italian day laborer look that Manziel rocks and lands Sarah Savage without doing something, that would at best be labeled a “moral gray area”, is a hero. But as great as Manziel has shown to be, he is no Bill Courtney.
I am about a solid year and a half late to this party (story of my life), but if you haven’t seen the documentary, Undefeated, do yourself a favor and do so immediately. It streams for free on Netflix. Bill Courtney is a lumber supplier who loves the game of football and spent 6 years coaching the Memphis City School’s proverbial doormat, Manassas High School. If you’re unsure of just how bad of a program into which Courtney walked, it had a combined record of 5-95 in the 10 previous seasons leading to his arrival. In the 110 years that the school had been open, it had never once won a playoff game. The man devoted his passion of coaching football to a school that was paid by other schools' to be their homecoming game, and he coached for FREE. Clearly, Courtney is not as familiar with The Dark Knight, as I am. He is good at something, but he does it for free.
Without giving away too much from the movie, the documentary basically explains Memphis perfectly. Memphis is by and large a city of those who have, and those who have not (Also sprinkle in those who want to look like they have more than they do). One segment of the population is riddled with crime, broken families, poverty, poor education, the list goes continues, while another segment experiences virtually the opposite. One man and a few of his friends from the latter of the two previously mentioned segments, attempt to help the former segment by using one of the talents they have, coaching football.
Without giving away too much from the movie, the documentary basically explains Memphis perfectly. Memphis is by and large a city of those who have, and those who have not (Also sprinkle in those who want to look like they have more than they do). One segment of the population is riddled with crime, broken families, poverty, poor education, the list goes continues, while another segment experiences virtually the opposite. One man and a few of his friends from the latter of the two previously mentioned segments, attempt to help the former segment by using one of the talents they have, coaching football.
Football can be a polarizing issue. On the one hand it generates an absurd amount of money not only at the professional level, but also the collegiate level. Those who are opposed see nothing but greedy fat cats getting richer and exploiting the use of a largely intellectually inferior workforce with little to no concern for the well-being of said workforce. Others view that said workforce is given opportunities and preferential treatment that would not be given to them if they were not skilled at playing football. Setting aside the political, one thing that I believe is unquestioned about football, is that is the greatest game at building and developing a young man's character. In no other sport do you practice five times as much as you play the game, wear 25 pounds of equipment and do up/downs, bear crawls, and run what seems to be an unnecessary amount given the fact that the game is essentially only 10 minutes or so of actual play, etc. In no other sport does 3/4 of the participants have essentially no chance of ever accomplishing the goal of the game, scoring. It's the perfect metaphor for what it takes to be successful in life. You work your ass off for a small payback.
As a product of one of the best football programs in Memphis, I always had proper coaching. Even in my youth programs, the coaching I received was phenomenal. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for those who were born north, south, or west of the intersection of Polar and Union (Shut up Midtown. You know what I mean.). Wether it's the lack of money, present male figures, or any of the reasons that a social worker would give, these kids do not have the same opportunities to receive the quality of coaching and guidance that my friends and I were afforded. Whether you grew-up playing on the park fields in Germantown or the various programs that played in the parochial leagues, you received quality youth coaching, and you learned the lessons that football taught: discipline, sacrificing yourself for the good of others, hard work, pushing yourself to keep going when you honestly believe you have nothing left in your proverbial tank, etc. Bill Courtney chose to try to offer this experience to a group of young men that would most likely never have such an opportunity. High School is essentially the last time in a young person's life that one can drastically change a young person. You are still developing and impressionable. By the time one graduates high school and advances (or doesn't) to wherever the next step is, that person is pretty much formed. Your high school years are so pivotal is developing and building character. Courtney knew this and chose to offer help the best way he knew, by coaching. It was his talent, and he offered it to try and help the city that he knows and loves. That is being a hero.
The private schools and the well coached county schools absolutely couldn't wait to play the Manassas's and other city schools that Memphis offered. For the starters , it meant an easy game to raise your stats. For the guys who had splinters in their butts from riding the pine, it meant you were going to play on a Friday night for a change. I knew the only games that I was going to take a snap past warmups other than to take the final knee, were games against these teams.
The private schools and the well coached county schools absolutely couldn't wait to play the Manassas's and other city schools that Memphis offered. For the starters , it meant an easy game to raise your stats. For the guys who had splinters in their butts from riding the pine, it meant you were going to play on a Friday night for a change. I knew the only games that I was going to take a snap past warmups other than to take the final knee, were games against these teams.
Jeffrey, there is no need to pretend. We know you didn't really play football. Well read and weep people:
The cynics, especially those familiar with the political, demographic make-up of Memphis and the unfortunate timing that this story was so close to the explosion of The Blind Side, will say that this was nothing but being opportunistic at the least. Maybe so, but who would spend five years of his life coaching for zero money and about almost the same amount of wins? (Just in case you were wondering, this documentary was made by two guys who were recruiting fanatics and saw the video of OC Brown on YouTube. They wanted to do a feature on him, but upon researching Brown, they came across the whole story and documented that.) I think often times we don't want to believe a person could be so selfless because we sit there and watch what he has chosen to take on and think to ourselves, "There is no way I would ever do that,". So, because we think that way, he must be no different. But, Courtney is different. His dad left home when he was young, so he knows what a lot of the kids are going through when it comes to a lack of a male figure in their lives. He too played football and knew the impact that his football coaches had on him. So, rather than just simply saying, "That's horrible," after reading in the Commercial Appeal, a story of a 17 year old Manassas Football player getting shot or seeing a similar story on the local news, he chose to go and give those kids what he knew he could offer and they could use, a football coach and male authority figure.
Regardless of motivation, I look at the outcome. He kept one kid out of jail by involving him in a program that would help grow his character and keep him out of jail. He secured two college scholarships for kids that would not have gone to college without his help, and that does not even account for the other kids on which he left an impression. Football coaches are a different breed. You can't quite define it, but you know a football coach when you see one. Coach Harrison, Alston, Massey, and Thompson all played a huge part in growing me as a person, and I barely even played; plus, our team had from my estimation three times the number of players Courtney's team did. So, after watching both he and his players struggle for words following the last game, it's safe to say he left a mark on those kids. In addition to all of that he offered them an opportunity to taste something with which they were not familiar, winning. I can safely say there is no better feeling as a high school guy than celebrating a big win in the locker room with your teammates. Even though you may hate the music that is blaring out of the busted JBL Stereo, you don't care. Everyone is so fired up, and you were just glad to contribute no matter how small your contribution was. These kids got to experience the joy of winning a division championship, and that is a memory that lasts forever. Truth be told that camaraderie is what most guys miss the most after their playing days are done. That's why we swap all those stories, not because we are living in the past but because it was such a meaningful experience (We can't say you're living in the past when you reminisce about your wedding). The truth is even if he were being completely self-serving, the greater good was achieved. If there were more Bill Courtney's in the world, I am pretty confident it would be a better place.
My name is Jeffrey, and these are my thoughts...
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