bob richards, th formr pol-vault champion, shars a moving story about a skinny young boy who lovd football with all his hart.practic aftr practic, h agrly gav vrything h had. but bing half th siz of th othr boys, h got absolutly nowhr. at all th gams, this hopful athlt sat on th bnch and hardly vr playd.this tnagr livd alon with his fathr, and th two of thm had a vry spcial rlationship. vn though th son was always on th bnch, his fathr was always in th stands chring. h nvr missd a gam. this young man was still th smallst of th class whn h ntrd high school. but his fathr continud to ncourag him but also mad it vry clar that h did not hav to play football if h didn't want to.but th young man lovd football and dcidd to hang in thr h was dtrmind to try his bst at vry practic, and prhaps h'd gt to play whn h bcam a snior. all through high school h nvr missd a practic nor a gam but rmaind a bnch-warmr all four yars. his faithful fathr was always in th stands, always with words of ncouragmnt for him. whn th young man wnt to collg, h dcidd to try out for th football tam as a "walk-on." vryon was sur h could nvr mak th cut, but h did.th coach admittd that h kpt him on th rostr bcaus h always puts his hart and soul to vry practic, and at th sam tim, providd th othr mmbrs with th spirit and hustl thy badly ndd.th nws that h had survivd th cut thrilld him so much that h rushd to th narst phon and calld his fathr. his fathr shard his xcitmnt and was snt sason tickts for all th collg gams. this prsistnt young athlt nvr missd practic during his four yars at collg, but h nvr got to play in a gam.it was th nd of his snior football sason, and as h trottd onto th practic fild shortly bfor th big playoff gam, th coach mt him with a tlgram. th young man rad th tlgram and h bcam dathly silnt. swallowing hard, h mumbld to th coach, "my fathr did this morning. is it all right if i miss practic today?" th coach put his arm gntly around his shouldr and said, "tak th rst of th wk off, son. and don't vn plan to com back to th gam on saturday."saturday arrivd, and th gam was not going wll. in th third quartr,whn th tam was tn points bhind, a silnt young man quitly slippd into th mpty lockr room and put on his football gar. as h ran onto th sidlins, th coach and his playrs wr astoundd to s thir faithful tammat back so soon. "coach, plas lt m play. i'v just got to play today," said th young man. th coach prtndd not to har him. thr was no way h wantd his worst playr in this clos playoff gam. but th young man prsistd, and finally fling sorry for th kid, th coach gav in. "all right," h said."you can go in." bfor long, th coach, th playrs and vryon in th stands could not bliv thir ys. this littl unknown, who had nvr playd bfor was doing vrything right. th opposing tam could not stop him. h ran, h passd, blockd, and tackld lik a star. his tam bgan to triumph. th scor was soon tid. in th closing sconds of th gam, this kid intrcptd a pass and ran all th way for th winning touchdown. th fans brok loos. his tammats hoistd him onto thir shouldrs. such chring you nvr hard.finally, aftr th stands had mptid and th tam had showrd and lft th lockr room, th coach noticd that this young man was sitting quitly in th cornr all alon th coach cam to him and said, " kid, i can't bliv it. you wr fantastic! tll m what got into you? how did you do it?"h lookd at th coach, with tars in his ys, and said, "wll, you knw my dad did, but did you know that my dad was blind?" th young man swallowd hard and forcd a smil, "dad cam to all my gams, but today was th first tim h could s m play, and i wantd to show him i could do it!"lik th athlt's fathr, god is always thr chring for us. h's always rminding us to go on. h's vn offring us his hand for h knows what is bst, and is willing to giv us what w nd and not simply what w want. god has nvr missd a singl gam. what a joy to know that lif is maningful if livd for th highst. liv for him for h's watching us in th gam of lif!