Keeping A Promise
Some may have called it brave. Others may have called it “thinking outside the box.” Most, I assume, thought it was just plain stupid. In September of 2005 when Notre Dame’s head coach Charlie Weis called a screen play to the right as his first play from scrimmage against Washington I’m sure there were many at that point questioning his coaching skills. The play normally wouldn’t be a problem, but the fact that Washington’s fumble on the one yard line now meant that Notre Dame was backed up in their own end zone. Although it seemed crazy to call a screen that could lead to a loss of the yard and a safety, there was much more to the story.
The week before the game Weis met with a ten year old boy named Montana. The boy, whose family was die-hard Notre Dame, was named after the great Notre Dame and San Francisco Forty-niners quarterback Joe Montana, whom Weis had roomed with in college. The young boy had been told earlier in the week that there was nothing more that the doctors could do about the tumor that was spreading in his brain. The day before Weis went to visit Montana, the young boy had become paralyzed from the waste down and was losing his strength very rapidly. At one point in the visit, Montana’s mother wanted him to throw her a pass but when he tried he could not even lift the ball. So Weis sat down on the recliner with him and helped him complete the pass.
Before leaving, Weis asked Montana if there was anything that he could do for him. The boy wanted to call the first play of the game against Washington. Weis agreed and then asked him what he wanted that play to be. “A pass right” was the response. When Weis returned to Notre Dame and met with his players he informed them of their first play of the game and they were all set to go. However, Montana did not live to see the game on Saturday. He passed away on Friday and at hearing the news Weis called his mother. Over the phone he assured her, “This game is for Montana, and the play still stands.”
On Saturday, as the offense took the field, all the players wondered if they would still run the same play. Montana’s mother did as well. When quarterback Brady Quinn asked his coach what he should do, Weis said, “We have no choice, we are throwing it to the right.” Amazingly, Quinn threw to his right to tight-end Anthony Fasano who jumped a defender to pick up 13 yards on the play.
Notre Dame went on to win their game that day against Washington 36-17. However, to me the real victory wasn’t the football game. The victory was knowing that a coach would put a promise made to a dying boy over winning a game or even losing his career. I am not a Notre Dame fan. I never have been. Yet it is hard not to be touched by a story like that. Our word is important and makes a difference. He could have made several excuses for not calling that play, but he didn’t. He knew what was important, especially to that family, and he stuck by it. A wise man once said, “A good name is to be more desired than great wealth” (Proverbs 22:1). Let us all strive to be people of our word.
Ben