My former very loose colleague at Barstool Sports Will Compton deserves a hat tip here for finding this footage.
However, because he asserted that Eric Coovert is the head football coach at Kingwood Park High School in Texas, rather than Cale Melton, I’m linking out to the OG source below. That’s called on-the-fly Big J Journalism research. I’ll cut Willy some slack. He played in the NFL and talks for a living. A man of his status can’t be bothered with these sorts of trivial details.
Before prattling on at too much length and making this all about me me me, the reason we’re here is to celebrate this genuinely human, moving, emotional moment.
Eric Coovert is some kind of assistant coach for Kingwood Park, and evidently had to battle for his life for a while away from the gridiron. As he implores his team to stay relentless, he eventually drops the best surprise of a bomb of news you could ever drop on a group of folks. A perfect 1-0 versus cancer. Let’s GO!
Maybe I’m a weirdo for having any sort of macro perspective on life in the context of football, but it’s easy to lose the humanity in the sport a little bit. I think we take for granted how physical and devastating the gridiron can be.
Whether it’s high school, college or the professional level, many of us are more concerned about our personal stakes in the outcome than anything else. In the NCAA or NFL, it can be a lot of, “How are my bets doing?” Or “COME ON MAN. YOU’RE ON MY FANTASY TEAM! DO BETTER!”
…That’s what makes the game so great. That’s why it’s so popular. But I’ll never tire of moments like these with Eric Coovert. Congrats, Coach.
Let’s hope that awful disease stays in remission and you can keep doing your thing, inspiring these burgeoning young men to be the best they can be!
