Society

Grace Under Pressure: Michael Ferns’ Run

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

High school tailback, Michael Ferns, had just cleared the Edison High secondary and was sprinting unmolested to his 12th touchdown of the season. His undefeated St. Clairsville (Ohio) team was putting the final touches on a significant win over its rival and the senior footballer was trying to impress the University of Michigan scouts who were already considering offering him a full football scholarship. As he crossed over the opponent’s five yard line, Ferns did a curious thing. He slowed down and made a right turn out-of-bounds at the one.

The move was so unexpected that two trailing referees signaled touchdown, but St. Clairsville’s game captain, Dan Monteroso, charged down the sideline to argue the call. Realizing their mistake, the stunned refs placed the ball at the one and Ferns went back into the huddle. It was about this time that unheralded, undersized freshman Logan Thompson entered the game. Ferns changed positions with the newbie and Thompson followed the star player into the end zone for his lone varsity play of the season.

Pretty mundane stuff that occurs most every autumn Friday  night somewhere in America. What made this one different is that Logan’s dad, Paul,  had died from a sudden stroke on Wednesday. Saying his father would have wanted him to play, Logan suited up with a heavy heart never expecting to see any playing time. Behind the scenes, Coach Brett McLean had encouraged his seniors to get Logan into the game for a meaningful play from scrimmage.  The word spread through the team. Despite the cut-throat world of big time high school football where college scholarships ride on every down, the team made a collective decision.

When Ferns made his right turn, all but one kid on the St. Clairsville sideline knew what had happened. “When I saw Mike break away down the sideline I just started yelling for Logan,” McLean said to USA Today. “He was surprised because he — like everyone else — figured Mike would just run it on in. Logan didn’t know anything about what we were doing. His was something that touched the whole team. Logan was going through so much and for a few minutes we helped him get his mind off of things. It honored his dad. It was just an awesome moment,” Mclean added.

Logan was ecstatic. “Looking straight up into the sky after scoring my first varsity touchdown…i know the old man was watching! love and miss you so much daddy,” he tweeted.

Source: USA Today

~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

59 thoughts on “Grace Under Pressure: Michael Ferns’ Run”

  1. Im bummed by the negative comments. This is one story about one group of people. The story stands on its own and is a tale of graciousness, love and caring.

  2. I give you American Exceptionalism. You do not have to be an American citizen to practice it.

  3. Frankly,

    Wss that an unaddressed tistle-tassel? You can do bettet than that. At least you have done so before.

    Can’t stand the disapproval you have had addressed at you personally by me?

    Decode it or shut up. Or are you too cowardly to do so????

  5. MikeS et al,

    Seems to be my day to disagree.

    I share MikeS’ feeling of loss that brought his tears.

    But I can not cheer when one moment of kindness is used to support the effect that football has had and continues to have in our society.

    I could quickly make a wry list of the “group versus others”-thinking which it in fact supports.
    I could joke that the coach could appeal saying that doing this excuses all your mistakes this season, or is payment for all the “attention” that you got due to your varsity status.

    Football is proof that competition to death is what leads to success; not the cooperation as exemplified in the one act.

    Simply and radically put: Watching football distorts the mind or value system. Baseball apparently too. And JT supports his teams. Or is it a necessary part of being able to identify yourself as an American male?

    We do identify and internalize with so many elements. That should be no surprise to anyone here.
    And what we identify with leads to prejudgement, ie quick and easy decisions, aka prejudice although not necessarily bad ones.

    Watch out for yours is all I recommend.

  7. OT OT OT OT OT OT OT

    Jeez, gang. I can’t agree at all with the cheering here. Was this a sneaky appeal for American exceptionalism and Romney? Or was it a way to get away for a few moments from worrying about the reality we live in?

    At any rate, it is Messpo’s way of sending his love to the young boys of Swat Valley in Pakistan, who get killed, tending their goats, by our drones.

    So what has got me out of the usual cheery “let’s buy something Saturday mood”? I mean we have Halloween goodies to stock up on, plus things for our emergency supplies, even if we live in Iowa. And we can stop thinking about the Koch ads and robocalls waiting for our return home. Do your dogs answer the robocalls while you are away, or do they get hysterical at the constant ringing?

    Simple. What got me stirred up was the rapid acceptance that the burned victim was in reality a burned mentally sick person, who set themselves on fire. Hope you read and remember the blog and comments.

    Sole proof? Prints on a lighter and a can of lighter fluid.

    No corroborative evidence as I recall. Too early, it could be said. Then why are we considering it now?

    No record of previous signs of mental breakdown, no child abuse record, no recent emotional trauma, no economic pressure, no crime record—–nothing was offered.

    But we were ready to accept this BS proof from the police, who we csstigate regularly here for so many false proofs presented. Suddenly we are ready to accept this malarkey. And GeneH. presented detailed sociological evidence which did not support LA as a KKK or especially racism afflicted place, at least not that place the crime occurred.
    He did not answer a query as to his eventual personal basis for his info, which was also an invitation to providing the source of his knowledge. Now this is not vendetta against GeneH for his part. My target is bigger, all who supported the mental illness theory advanced by the police “evidence”.

    As I remember, the Professor DID pose the question very narrowly: Can she or should she be prosecuted.
    But that is no excuse for us and never has been to limit our questioning. This is a far broader blog than a blawg.

    I am no tech, but taking prints from a crime victim must be routine and IS done in a hospital ward.
    Prints taken, I believe are transferable to an object and can then be used as evidence—-false evidence.
    I’ll leave the technical part up to the experts, if we have any fingerprint ones.

    My point is the amazingly quick consensus which was reached that she was not a victim, but mentally sick.

    It does not pass the smell test.

    And having named no one, but implicated all, I await the hurricane, or a dead silence. Reasoned and reasonable discussion is welcome instead.

  8. Tears flowed as I read this Mark, since the young man was about the age I was when my father died. Knowing the sometimes rapacious world of High School, where scouts viewing performances can define a young mans future, Coach Brett McLean epitomizes all that is good in sports coaching. Not only did he give a treasured gift to Logan, but he modeled for his team the essence of empathy for ones fellow humans.

  9. Can anyone here imagine young Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan doing what Michael Ferns did? Not in your wildest dreams. I hope the Ferns lad gets that scholarship. It is of this cloth that greatness is made.

    And my deepest condolences to Logan Thompson and all the family of Paul Thompson. May Paul Thompson have Godspeed on his journey to forever…

  11. This is the best post on the blog in a year. First and goal on the one. That means Logan would have had a few more chances if the first run did not make it. This made my day. And I am looking at a hurricane.

  14. We really ARE all in this together. Our humanity comes through when we think of the WE more than the ME.

  15. Great story, Mike. Sports often get a bad rap that is deserved. It can bring out the dark side that lives within us all. However, this is what makes it all worth it. The love and strength that comes from a team is pure and good. I would tell kids I coached to remember the feeling when one teammate picked you up. And, remember how good it feels when you pick up a teammate. Because when you remember those emotions, you’ll carry those wonderful qualities to your real life. You’ll want to feel that again. I’ve had kids I coached come up to me years later and thank me for those lessons. To have a 30 year old man still call you “coach” is so comforting.

  16. There is no “I” in team….. There is in an “I” in WIN…. And that my friend is exactly what you do when you make an effort to make someone feel better about themselves…. You all win…..

    Great story and on the mark….. Mark…

  17. Maybe there is some hope for our species after all.

    To Logan Thompson, sincerest condolences on your loss.

    To Michael Ferns and the rest of the team, a collective “good on you”.

    That was an astounding display of cooperative compassion.

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