The story of Coach Weiss and a promise kept

Outside the lines is a program which is featured as part of my favorite TV show, the Sportscenter on ESPN where they do an in-depth analysis and cover in detail either a touching incident that has happened in the life of a player or the history of a team and not on the actual game that had happened on that day. So, me being the very emotional guy, eagerly look forward to that part of Sportscenter. I had even blogged about one such incident a long time ago. You can read it here.

The incident that was covered last week was a very special one in many ways and hence this post. So, here is the story - Notre Dame is an University which is traditionally famous for its football team and its accomplishments. Many NFL legends have graduated out of this University and prime among them is Joe Montana who is considered by many as one of the best quarterbacks ever to have ever played the game. As a side note, you should watch the movie Rudy, which is an inspiring story of courage about how a below average college student with no talent whatsoever gets to play for the University of Notre Dame football team, through his sheer determination and his resolve. Many feel that this is the best sports movie ever made (though I beg to differ bcos I believe that ‘Remember the Titans’ is the best sports movie that has been made to date).

Now, back to the incident - Montana Mazurkiewicz was a 10 year-old kid who was named after the legendary quarterback Joe Montana and who grew up idolizing Notre Dame football. But the terrible news about the kid is that he was affected by an inoperable brain tumor and he was counting the last days of his life. So, as one of his last wishes before he dies, the kid had hoped to meet one of the players from the Notre Dame football team. Somehow this word got around to the folks in the Notre Dame football team and the head coach of the team Charlie Weiss himself decided to make a visit to the kid’s home. The boy was just flabbergasted on seeing the coach of his favorite team by his bed-side. Here I will have to add that the coach of a football team is held in much high regard than you would see in any other sport, reason being that it is the coach who designs all the plays in this game. Some even go to the extent of comparing the game of football to the game of chess where the coach is compared to the chess player whereas all the real football players are like the various chess pieces on the board who implement the coach's plans & strategies.

Before proceeding further, I will also have to mention the fact that the coach’s 10 year-old daughter was suffering from a brain development delay and may be that was one reason he chose to come in first place bcos he can clearly understand the pain that the kid and his family were going through. The coach spent a good amount of time with the kid and he narrated a few incidents involving him & Joe Montana, after whom the kid was named, since himself and Joe Montana shared the same room in college. The coach also handed out a football signed by all the University of Notre Dame players. The boy was so happy on all these gestures and his mom revealed that she had never seen her son happier before. Finally, when it was time to leave, the coach asked the kid if there was anything else that he can do and the boy goes "I want to call the first play of the next game". The coach agreed and the boy asked the coach to use the "pass right" play. But the inevitable happened even before the game when the boy died the night before the next game that Notre Dame played.

So, on game day, the coach is all determined to fulfill his promise and the death of the boy only made him more resolute. The game in itself was special in its own way. Notre Dame was playing against the University of Washington (which is situated here in Seattle) which is coached by Tyrone Willingham, who was fired as the coach of Notre Dame football team just last year. So, though Notre Dame was ranked notches above UW, nobody was willing to bet its money on Notre Dame mainly bcos Tyrone Willingham had a point to prove. Prior to the game, the coach told the players about his promise and told them that he is going to fulfill his promise. As expected, the game started tightly. And on any ordinary day, implementing the play that the boy had asked would have been an easy thing to do. But something happened which made calling that play a very tough proposition. Notre Dame got the ball after a fumble by Washington on their 1 yard line. Usually on such a situation, the coaches 99 out of 100 times, choose a running play since in case you select a passing play, you face the obvious danger of ‘getting sacked’ in your own end zone which would result in giving up a ‘safety’. But our coach had to fulfill his promise and so he told the players that he has no option than to use the play the boy suggested. And incredibly, the risky play went on well, with the wide receiver gaining a good 13 yards on the play. Charlie Weiss says in hindsight that he felt as though the spirit of the boy guided the play where the receiver made a crucial jump over the rushing defensive lineman and completed a good 13 yards.

The moment I heard this story in the show, I was so moved and I decided I should write about this. Incidents like this is what watching & following sports such an enjoyable and heart warming experience. It is one thing to promise and another thing to live up to it. And when that living up to involves a as huge a risk that the ND coach was facing, it is all the more praiseworthy. Charlie Weiss emerged a winner not only from the game (yeah Notre Dame won the game) but also in all our hearts for such a noble gesture. The day after the game was over, the boy's parents received another surprise in their mail – the ‘game ball’ signed by all the Notre Dame players.

p.s.: For folks who are not familiar with the game of American football, here is a quick Football 101 which should help understand the coach's act better. The game has mainly 2 types of plays - rushing or running play and passing play. As the name indicates, running play is where the player (usually the running back) carries the ball and runs through the defenses and tries to gains yards whereas in a passing play, the quarterback who in most cases is the leader of the team, throws the ball to wide receivers who in turn try to gain yards. There will be end zones on both ends and the aim is to move the ball to the opponent's endzone whcih fetches you points. Sacking a quarterback means getting your hands on the QB while he still has the football and something what the defense tries & loves to do. And when the QB is sacked in their own backyard (end zone), it results in a safety, meaning 2 points to the opposing team. And when you are starting from your own 1 yard line, you usually start off with a passing play. If I have to draw a parallel from cricket, it would be something like you starting the first over of your bowling with a spinner on a seam-friendly pitch with the field restrictions on, something which captains never do. Game ball is the tradition of the coach giving the football that was used during the game at the end of the game to the most valuable player on the field that particular game.