A Touchdown To Remember

Happy Thanksgiving! I thought I'd share a feel-good story for Thanksgiving week. A friend and co-worker is from Jasper Indiana and shared an inspiring story after spending a weekend at her hometown. She went to a Jasper High School football game and got to see Zach Beckman play a few downs.

Zach Beckman is a high school student. "He is very involved in school activities and sports, and just happens to have Down Syndrome." Everyone in town knew his story and when he entered the field, the crowd cheered. Zach was such a dedicated team manager his freshman, sophomore, and junior years that the coaching staff "let him dress out in uniforms" and gave him player status.

With the agreement of opposing coaches, Zach was allowed to run a few plays. Zach's teammate volunteered to be Zach's buddy on the field. Zach was too vulnerable to take the ball so he stood near the sidelines with the wide receiver while the team ran a running play in the middle.

On the last regular season game, an away game at Mount Vernon, Zach lived out a dream and scored a touchdown! His sister put together this YouTube video as a thank you to the coaching staff and players that made his dream come true.