This is so touching. Brought a tear to my eye. It is nice to see there are still good people in the world that would give the kid possibly the best moment in his life. Congratulations to both teams!
- Phil
TEAM ALLOWS OPPONENT TO SCORE TOUCHDOWN _ Matt Zeisel, a teen with Down Syndrome, had longed to play in a football game, but never had a chance to get off the bench -- until his coach and the rival team agreed to give him the chance of a lifetime. At 5’3 and 110 pounds, Matt has spent much of the football season sitting on the bench, watching his teammates at St. JosephBentonHigh School in Kansas City race across the field. Matt has Down Syndrome, and his doctors have said that it isn’t safe for him to get involved in contact sports, so, for his own good, his coach, Dan McCamy, has kept him on the sidelines. But at the game last week, Matt’s team was down by 46-0 when Coach McCamy had a bright idea. He called a time-out and went to ask the opposing team a question. He wanted to know if they would let one of his guys run in for a touchdown. The team quickly agreed to the coach’s request. Then, for the first time all season, Coach McCamy called in the "Matt Play." With Coach McCamy and his teammates’ urging, Matt jumped up off the bench and raced out to the field. He took hold of the football, and, as soon as the referee ended the time-out, he ran a full 60 yards from one end of the field to the other, throwing the ball down to score a 6-point touchdown. After cheering on Matt’s play, his teammates scooped him up for a big group hug. Coach McCamy posted a video of Matt’s touchdown on YouTube the next morning for his parents to see, and, since then, the heartwarming play has been watched more than 275,000 times.
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