The Young Football Player Who Went All-Out so His Blind Father Could “See” Him Play-Unproven!
Summary of eRumor:
The touching story of a kid who was small for his size, but kept doing his best at football, cheered by his loving father. Despite the fact that the boy virtually never got to play, his father was always there supporting his son. The son went to college where he managed to get onto the football team, but mostly because of his inspiration, not his skill. Even though he warmed the bench all through his college football career, his father bought season tickets and was at every game. At the end of the son’s senior year, he got word that his father had died. The football coach released him from further practices and from the final game of the season as well. On the day of the big game, however, the son showed up to play and begged to be given a chance on the field. He performed brilliantly and contributed to winning the game. Afterwards, he told his coach that the reason was because his father had been blind and that was the first time he could watch his son play.
The Truth:
We’ve not found any substantiation for this story. Some versions of it say it is told by former U.S. pole-vault champion Bob Richards. Other versions (one of them was published in the book “Called to Coach“) credit the story to Lou Little, who coached at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., from 1924 to 1929. However, in all the various forms of the story, no identifying information is given such as names, years, or locations. If the story is true, some aspects of this version of it are not credible. Even if a previously unused player got on the field and did something notable, it is not likely that he would suddenly become the main guy handling the ball and doing receiving, passing, and blocking.
This may be the story on which the eRumor about “Robby” has been based regarding an alleged victim of the 1995 bombing of the U.S. Federal building in Oklahoma City.