OT: Deion Sanders pays tribute to his high school coach
- Thread starter TempleBAPittMPA
- Start date
I was lucky enough to have a great father, as well as two terrific grandfathers. I didn’t lose any of them until I was middle aged. Lucky and blessed.
But the thing that 2 other men - my junior high track coach and then my high school track coach - did for me was show me that men outside my family could care for me, make me believe in myself, and be as invested in me as my blood kin.
I never fully understood the importance of those two men until I was far removed from them. I have had the chance to seek them out and, now as an old man myself, thank them.
Now my track coaches at Pitt? I better not say anything about the head coach - I have very little good to say. But the assistant coaches, including a very young Smittie Brown, I appreciated and still harbor good memories about. In fact, I’m going to see Coach Brown next month. Haven’t seen him in 46 years!
But the thing that 2 other men - my junior high track coach and then my high school track coach - did for me was show me that men outside my family could care for me, make me believe in myself, and be as invested in me as my blood kin.
I never fully understood the importance of those two men until I was far removed from them. I have had the chance to seek them out and, now as an old man myself, thank them.
Now my track coaches at Pitt? I better not say anything about the head coach - I have very little good to say. But the assistant coaches, including a very young Smittie Brown, I appreciated and still harbor good memories about. In fact, I’m going to see Coach Brown next month. Haven’t seen him in 46 years!
