BONUS BLOG - FATHERS' DAY SPECIAL: The Father of Football

I do not have the words to properly express my father’s impact, not only on my passion for football, but on every aspect of my life, but I shall do my best. Throughout my life, my dad has constantly been there for me, teaching me life lessons, how to be a husband, how to be a man and how to be a dad. My father is my hero and my best friend. I would not be the husband I am, the father I am and would surely not even be typing these words as the Blind Quarterback.

“Dad, I need help with homework.”

“Son, the game is on.”

“Dad, I need help on a video game.”

“Son, what day is it? That’s right, its Saturday, that means the game is on.”

“Dad, I was cleaning my prosthetic eye, and it went down the bathroom sink.” (well, he couldn’t ignore that one)

For as far back as I can remember, my Dad’s passion was and still is college football. Until recently, I did not share his passion for football.

My father, instead of trying to influence me to follow his passion, he helped me in developing passions and hobbies of my own that he and I could share together. My father and I spent countless hours playing video games together. He would begrudgingly help me through the harder dungeons of Super Mario Brothers - and to this day, he still gives me tips on how to get my Crusader up to level 70 on Diablo 3. We enjoy all forms of comedy films, from classics like The Odd Couple and Uncle Buck, to the works of Jim Carrey, such as Dumb and Dumber, and action movies such as the Jason Bourne series, Star Trek and our favorite being the James Bond series.

When I first took up the passion of football, my father described it in ways that even being blind, I could still understand and envision, describing the football field like a giant shoebox. Since then, he has written me dozens of emails, explaining everything from plays, to rules, to passing route trees, to running routes, to formations and beyond - all in ways that his blind son, who has never seen the game, can perfectly understand.

“Son, I’m happy to teach you, but I want you to know, don’t do this for me, or because you feel it will improve our relationship, because our relationship is perfect the way it is.”

It has meant the world to me to finally share in my dad’s passions for the game of football, but that being said, we never needed it. It has just made something that was already so strong even better.

I now share in his passion of football and before this summer is over, I will join him and my wonderful mother in their home in Alaska.

My father and I will bring in the new football season, and since Alaska is three hours behind the Missouri time zone, we will be getting up at 5:00 AM to watch “ESPN’s College Game Day” - the first kickoff is at 8:00 AM.

Happy Fathers’ Day everyone! Comment below with your stories with your fathers!