Today’s post can be filed away in the there-is-hope-for-humanity category.
A 17 year old high school student named Ike Ditzenberger has down syndrome. He also plays on the varsity football team.
In late September, the Lake Stevens Vikings were crushing the Snohomish Panthers 35-0 with 10 seconds left in the game. That’s when the Panthers ran their top secret play, The Ike Special.
Ike took the hand off from the Panthers quarterback and proceeded to run 51 yards for a touchdown as the clock expired. Vikings players definitely took the end of that play off, but in this case it mattered way more to everyone on that field for little Ike to score 6 points, than to tackle the poor guy to salvage a shutout.
The Vikings ended up winning 35-6 and now have a 4-0 record in 2010, but Ike Ditzenberger and his family have a memory they will treasure for the rest of their lives.
And in Pro Football News…
If Ike’s story doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy, then I’ll leave you with this:
The New England Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins 41-14 last night in Miami on prime time Monday Night Football! Special teams rocked the house for the Pats. How sweet it is.
[…] Down Syndrome Kid Scores a Touchdown (projectswole.com) […]
What a great story, nice to see that everyone realised just how precious this memory will be to Ike.
For the Vikings to give up a simple stat like a shutout to make such a massive difference to someones life is as you say a fantastic example of humanity at its best.