The Interceptor

INTERCEPTOR: one that intercepts; specifically : a light high-speed fast-climbing fighter plane or missile designed for defense against raiding bombers or missiles.

My son caught another interception today, his 11^th of the season.

In his first year of junior high, he plays on the football team for his small Christian school.  He is as talented an athlete as any child I've ever seen; he's plenty strong and fast, but he has skills way beyond his age or stature.  He has great field strategy.  His coach tells him he has the best hands on the team.  Another parent says he plays like a high school kid, not a 6^th grader.  

All I know is that he's caught at least one interception in every game this year.  The Eagles have a winning season, thanks in no small part to him.

I'm a fair weather football fan; I don't get into the game unless my team or my son is on top.  But when that happens, WATCH OUT.

I went to UT just after the Earl Campbell years.  I loved going to football games, but they weren't as exciting in the early 1980s.  After college, I got caught up in my career and social life, then marriage and family, and I let my team spirit fall by the wayside.

Enter VinceYoung and Colt McCoy.  I remember staying up way past my bedtime the night the Horns played USC for the National Championship in early 2006.  It was the most unbelievable football game I've ever witnessed.  I could see my son peeking over the balcony upstairs, awakened by the screaming and high fives going on in our living room.  It was a masterpiece of collegiate football.  Vince Young was, well, INVINCIBLE.

And then Colt McCoy came along.  Not only was he extremely talented, but he was a humble, gentle, Christian young man.  He had a cool name, and man, could that boy play football. Watching Colt and his childhood friend/favorite receiver Jordan Shipley whoop up on every team in the Big 12 for four years in a row will spoil you.  But Colt learned a hard lesson along the way: Prepare for open and closed doors.

Just ten minutes into the first quarter of the National Championship against Alabama, Colt was sidelined with a shoulder injury that took him out of the game and ended his illustrious college career.  After the game, reporters swarmed around him and asked him how he felt.  He responded: "I always give God the glory. I never question what God does. God is in control of my life and if nothing else, I am standing on the Rock!"

I don’t know if my son will ever make it onto the football team in college.  I just hope Colt McCoy's legacy will live on in him: Do your best, and be a leader.  Who could ask for anything more?  And if by chance he should catch a few more passes along the way, well, that would be just fine by me.