The Play of The Year - The Jake Porter Story

Sports Illustrated Online ^ | Wednesday November 13, 2002 9:35 AM | Rick Reilly

[SAMWolf]

Jake Porter is 17, but he can't read, can barely scrawl his first name and often mixes up the letters at that. So how come we're all learning something from him?

In three years on the Northwest High football team, in McDermott, Ohio, Jake had never run with the ball. Or made a tackle. He'd barely ever stepped on the field. That's about right for a kid with chromosomal fragile X syndrome, a disorder that is a common cause of mental retardation.

[SAMWolf]

((PING))) for a "feel good" story

[RonKY]

Talk about a classy coach.....it really doesn't get much classier than that.

[alancarp]

... and a ping for two coaches (one in particular), and a bunch of football players who didn't get in the way of THE GAME.

[1Old Pro]

Often it's the "simple" things that can bring such great pleasure. The simple act of allowing this to occur will bring joy and hope to many.

[twyn1]

Rush talked about this earlier...his website will post a link to a video of the play later this afternoon

[SES1066]

Thanks for posting this, it does lift ones heart. As for the gripers and mal-contents, yes it is an exception and it is the exceptions that can make things SHINE!

[Xenalyte]

Ping 'cause Brak says, "That was so beautiful!"

[MP5]

Thanks for posting this.

That is something all the players will remember for the rest of their lives.

[MoralSense]

Great story, no doubt about it, but Reilly basically lifted it from an AP dispatch run more than a week ago, and posted on FR.

[Quix]

Agree--doesn't get much classier than that.

Which shows you how low on the vacuum-in-the-head pole Dilldo and Shrillery, Pelosi, are!

[per loin]

Yes. I think it now should be required that all students who have either mental or physical defects of any kind be allowed to score at least one touchdown in their high school fottball games. Schools that do not allow all such students to score should be cut off from all federal funds, and their faculties subjected to extensive training in the rights of differently enabled students.

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Feel good" PING

[SAMWolf]

Shoot! It must have been under a different title. Search didn't show any hit.

[HEY4QDEMS]

A few overtestosteroned Neanderthals on an Internet site complained, "That isn't football."

Wow I wonder what they would say if they watched the Bengals play.
Now thats not football

[SAMWolf]

No one forced anyone to do something they didn't want to do so what's the big deal?

[HEY4QDEMS]

They did it because they WANTED to. Nobody forced them or said they had to do it. Whats your problem?

[SubSailor]

Posted awhile back here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/776101/posts

The article I posted was from the local newspaper where it occurred. I think word of mouth is finally making the mainstream media pick up on it.

[drjimmy]

I saw this story on ESPN a few days ago and I'm not ashamed to say I had tears running down my face. I have two sons who play football (one in high school now and the other in small fry), and I hope that they can be half as "manly" as the coaches and players who took part in this.