Here it is ... my story ...It was a Saturday, November 11, 1967. Our coach had gotten tickets to a TCU – Texas Tech football game. We were not having a very good year although we were ranked high in the beginning. Things started off bad for us with our first game against Sherman and we got beat … bad. I tell this story and begin here because of what took place after our first game and also on that day in November. Six of our team members were a little distraught with our poor performance that lead to a poor decision. They chose to get drunk or drink after signing an agreement stating we wouldnt do so during the season. When this information was found out, our coach reacted combined with a humilating defeat and decided to get our attention but giving the team the right to kick off these violaters of our team agreement. Several of them were starters and fairly good athletes. Unfortunately some of the ones who were playing behind them saw their opportunity to move up as a starter. There was a team vote and these players that had a chance to move up were instrumental and persuading the team to play God and dismiss them from the rest of the season. With this vote and outside of two people it would have been unaminous. I was one of the votes to keep them on the team. The other was my best friend and the star running back. We talked about it and even though we didnt agree with their decision to drink, we were looking at our season as a whole. No one is perfect and there was no reason to excuse them for this act but we didnt want to destroy our season. We felt if they ran and ran and ran … then they might think about doing such a thing if a second time came around. It was not to be the case and they were dismissed from our team. A team that had been state ranked would suffer to a 2 and 7 season with one game left. I was having a pretty good season … having intercepted six passes, leading in tackels and being courted by several division one colleges. Only one big problem … my size but I knew I could correct that if given the chance. Needless to say the chance never came. It was on this day that I let a poor decision put a cloud on the rest of my life. The game was over and we were given the chance to enter into the TCU lockerroom because our coach had coached one of their star players. There are a few particulars you need to know. One … the jerseys that lead to the downfall of several players and their decision to take them were tear-away jerseys. They were popular then and allowed a player to literally tear away from a person trying to tackle them. The one down side was many of the jerseys had to be replaced during the game. Luckily the jerseys cost very little and were of no real value but to a high school football player it could become a trophy. Here is something else you need to know … my dad was an honest man and he spent his life teaching his kids to do the right thing and make good decisions. One thing he emphasized over and over … we were to never steal anything. It was for that reason if I took a piece of gum from Moms purse without asking for it first … I would feel extremely guilty. As I walked through the lockerroom, I saw several of the players on my team taking advantage of jerseys that probably would have been thrown away anyway but I couldnt bring myself to do it. In the room next door there was a player and trainer who was cutting a torn jersey off of the player. He threw the jersey in the trash by the table he was setting on. Another friend of mine was with me and he reached in to get the jersey. The jerseys number was 34 … MY football number. Needless to say, I asked my friend if I could have it since it was my number. He handed it to me and then I took the jersey to the trainer and asked if he was going to throw it away, could I have it. He smiled and said sure. Now the proud owner of a torn jersey with my number I started for the bus. I wasnt trying to hide it and for that reason I was an easy target for my coach and I remember him asking ...Where did you get that jersey? I told him that the jersey was being thrown away but the trainer said I could have it. The real question probably should have been … Did the trainer have the right to do this? Regardless I was told to take it back and when I entered the room I saw several of my team members putting jerseys under the shirts and coats. What I didnt know was that seven team members had already taken jerseys and made it to the bus. I told those who remained that they might as well put them back because Coach was now checking everyone as they exited. Some had even stolen socks, chin straps and other items yet it was the jerseys that would get you in trouble. One other thing I need to tell you … I have a facebook friend who was one who took the 34 jersey first and he could vouch for me about the trainer throwing it away and finally allowing me to take it. Whether he would or not … Im not sure. When I got onto the bus I told the other people who had taken jerseys that Coach was going to check them all when we got to the field house in Gainesville. What happen next sealed their doom. They opened the windows and threw out the jerseys. Needless to say .. we had a team meeting when we arrived home. It didnt take long until Coach was able to determine who the guilty people were in taking the jersey. We had some people on the team who were willing to give that information. Then Coached asked if the ones who were guilty would be willing to admit it. They didnt want to because they knew they would get into trouble. I heard that the punishment was going to be thousands and thousands of sprints the next day (exagerating … ha). I didnt steal the jerseys but I felt somewhat compelled to share in the punishment and I went with them the next day admitting what we had done. I told the assistant coach that I didnt steal the jersey but was willing to accept the same punishment as they. He said to me, Im proud of you Phelps. We had just started a Fellowship of Christian Athlete chapter .. Gainesvilles first but several of the guilty party were members. It just seem like the right thing to do at the time knowing what they had done was wrong. Weeelll … guess what? The season didnt end the way Coach wanted it to and he was embarrassed that some of this players stole some jerseys although jerseys had been stoled many times before yet they were usually their own after the season. This time I wasnt a part of the team meeting they held because I sided with my friends and opted to take the punishment that they were to be given. What we didnt know was the pressure that the former players who had been dismissed and their still disgruntled parents were insistant that these team members would be punished the way they were. After all stealing is worse than drinking … right? What the real motivator was some players were going to be given some playing time and move up in position if we were dismissed. It was a real scandal of sorts that went to the school board with the final decision being theirs and we were kicked off the team by a 4-3 vote. I couldnt believe it! I didnt steal and yet I was going to get tagged for it. I remember going to Dad and explaining my situation but my final decision was to not fink out on my friends but to accept the same punishment as they. Probably the hardest decision I ever made. One of the main reasons was because I felt I had disappointed Dad and was an embarrassment. I remember shortly after our dismissal … Dad telling me how proud he was of me. It was a turning point in my life and I really (to be honest) didnt want to do it but I felt it was the right decision to not fight it. I didnt understand at that point and time in life but it gave me an opportunity to share with others about how sometimes things dont go right and you may not be at fault. Could I have gotten a scholarship? … maybe .. depended on whether or not I grew (funny … I did grow but it was twenty years later [ha]). I remember the support we got from the student body … again many of the girls are facebook friends of mine and Im sure they remembered singing the song from Lil Abner.. Put them back … they way they were during that next pep ralley. Theres a picture in our 68 annual that might have been forgotten by most people. It was a picture of one of my friends and myself who were victimized by this action carrying off my best friend (who I saved from getting kick off the team). It was a picture of our last game where we got beat 72 – 6. He had a jersey in his coat when I told him to put it down upon entering that lockerroom that day. Actually there were several team members who had jerseys. The funny thing about this is that if I hadnt come in … they would have been in the same position of those kicked off the team. Ironically .. these are the same people who voted them off. Why did I tell you this story? Soon I will be leaving this town. Gainesville has been home all of my life (64 years). I wanted to tell that story then but chose not to but now that Im leaving … I wanted you to know. Yesterday … when I was in Frisco, I saw a student of mine that I had who was in DAEP. He had a horrible reputation and was considered bad news by the school and many of his teachers. We looked at each other and he asked me Do you remember me? I called him by name and said yes. How I remembered that I dont know but I do remember seeing this child had a troubled past and he needed someone to believe in him. I choose to do that and yesterday he said to me … thanks for believing in me. He had a job and was maturing and finding purpose in life. We ALL need that .. someone to believe in us. Im asking that you believe me now that Ive told you the WHOLE story. Im not a thief … I didnt steal a jersey but my not saying so and speaking up … cost me some things but it also allowed me to use this event to help others. I have another reputation … I like to talk … I like to tell stories and one of the things Ive heard said about me is that when I hear a story … I have a better one. That has never been the case. Each story we tell … either mine or yours has merit. When I hear someone elses story … it reminds me of one I want to share as well. Im not trying to compete … I just love talking (ha), sharing and telling a story with hopes that it might help someone. Please forgive me if I might have come on a little strong but Im a storyteller. Ive written many things (none published) … stories, poems, songs, and plays. Ill be saying goodbye to Gainesville but I want to be remembered as one who helped someone else. I dont want accolades … only affirmation that I made the right choice … even 47 years ago.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 05:41:34 +0000
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