My daughter, Krystie, is in the intensive care unit at the Amplatz ChildrenâÄôs Hospital on campus. Imagine my surprise when three members of the Gopher football team took time in the afternoon before their Big Ten game against Northwestern to visit critically ill, hospitalized children and wish them well. Led by their quarterback, the players took time to learn about each of the kids who were well enough to receive them, and they showed genuine emotion about the children struggling to hold onto their lives in the middle of a large campus population.
Football games are won and they are lost, and the quality of a teamâÄôs play and its record are indeed important. However, I can suggest from experience that most of the stats and pundit commentary is really very fleeting. Frankly, in a matter of years, few will remember or care about the 2010 season.
When these three young men walked into my daughterâÄôs room, I saw âÄî in their words, expressions and actions âÄî a quality of character far beyond what I would have imagined. What I saw were character traits that will serve and guide these young men into what I expect will be very successful lives. If these three gentlemen are representative of Gopher athletics and the coaches who lead them, then their student peers and the University have a great deal to be proud of.