A True Role Model

On any given fall day you could look into the back yard of my aunts house and most likely see a blonde haired boy and his burly white haired 75 year old Uncle Tom playing tackle football. No matter how busy Tom's schedule was he always made time for our backyard football battles. For as long as I can remember we have always been competing against each other. It didn't matter if it was football, basketball, sprints, eating competitions, chess matches, or seriously anything we could think of. Our competitive battles we had launched my interest in sports and I was always lucky enough to have the opportunity to have season tickets to Penn State football games and Bucknell Basketball games. The hour and a half drive to State College usually consisted of stories from Tom's life and me getting car sick from my Aunt and Uncles excessive breaking.

I have a very clear memory of one Sunday afternoon where my sixth grade self just had his best game of football I've ever had. My uncle Tom used to come to every game of mine and sit himself in the best positions to take pictures. No matter where I was on the field I always knew that a white haired burly man was on the sidelines somewhere sitting behind a camera that was always way too advanced to be photographing a middle school football game. After being dismissed by the coaches, my jubilant self ran over to my family excited over how well the team and I played. To my surprise, Tom pulled me to the side to show me a picture that he took during the game. On the small display screen of the digital camera he showed me an example of where I was on defense and took a bad angle on closing in on the ball carrier which caused me to miss the tackle. I was in shock that he was criticizing my performance after the game I had. Offended, I asked him "aren't you going to mention all the good things I did?"

    Chuckling Tom responded "Of course you played great today and I'm very proud of you, but even the best athletes in the world make mistakes. Being able to point out your mistakes and prevent them from happening again is what makes the great athletes great." Looking back on this teaching moment really shows how dedicated and interested he was in making me not only a better football player but a better person. Even as a 21 year old in college I can walk into my aunt and uncles kitchen and be greeted with the same picture in question from 10 years ago. That's just the kind of guy Tom is, a very genuine person who has always had my best interest first and has always pushed me to be better. 

With playing such an important role throughout my life Tom has been nothing short of a role model for me. His dedication and passion he's shown for me and my interest throughout my life has always been second to none. Tom has always been extremely proud of me and my accomplishments and never shy's away from telling his friends, family, work colleague's, fraternity brothers, or complete strangers about it. Every person Tom has ever introduced me to has always shook my hand and told me how they have heard all of these stories about me whether it would be sports, academics, hobbies, you name it. Growing up I never understood why he felt the need to tell so many people about me and it often embarrassed me but, looking back at it now it really shows not only how proud he was of me but how interested in my life he was.