Daniel is probably the most dedicated member of his team. He has proven over the years how much football means to him and also how much football has done for him. Over the last 4 years Daniel has really grown as a person into an inspiring, responsible, mature young man. This is owed mainly to his love of football and his determination to improve and be able to just be part of the team.

Like Rudy he also struggled with his grades during his 8th, 9th, and 10th grade years which affected his eligibility. However, this didn’t stop him. He went to every conditioning, two-a-day, and regular practice. For his freshman and sophomore years he suited for every game even knowing he would not be able to step out on the field. He was always there cheering on his teammates from the sidelines.

He even begged us to let him go to football camp prior to his sophomore year. We agreed hoping football would mean enough to him to make some changes academically. He got into a bit of trouble during his sophomore year and we thought he wouldn’t be on the team any longer. Daniel showed a lot of courage by going to talk to Coach Cloward the next day. That was when I first heard the story of the football pants from coach and how the seniors were all sticking up for Daniel. They all admired his determination and dedication to being part of the team. The coach told him to keep going for it and not quit. He persevered and attended double summer school, winter school, and Saturday school sessions to make up his grades.

The summer leading up to his junior year he worked even harder knowing he was finally going to be eligible to play the next year. He didn’t care that he wasn’t the fastest or most talented, he just wanted any chance to play and be a part of the team. He wasn’t a starter and didn’t see a lot of playing time but that never seemed to matter as much as just being there with his team and being able to call himself one of them. By the end of the year he was pulling a 3.2 grade point average. He told me his goal was to make captain during his senior year.

The senior year started tough. He had another accident on his skateboard on the way to practice one day. He limped around and looked like the walking wounded for several weeks. It didn’t stop him, he was still there every day, taped up and ready to play. At the end of two-a-days he came home all proud that he was named as one of the captains for the varsity team.

Another challenge presented itself when the district opened a new high school 10 miles away and split their school, they lost a lot of players to the new high school this year. This didn’t get Daniel down it just inspired him to try harder. He never has a discouraging word to say, he is always optimistic going into every game. You can hear him on the sidelines yelling encouragement to the team to keep their heads up and stay in the game no matter what the score. You see their team is a small one in the toughest 3A region in the state. I think he is a big reason why no matter how bad the score is the team never gives up. They fight to the end. He has even been asked to help the JV team from time to time. Due to their small size they don’t always have enough players to stretch across all three teams. Several times Daniel has been asked to play with the JV team where he can start. He doesn’t think of this as a step down but rather one more chance to play football and help his team and coach.

Daniel has come a long way and most of it was due to his love of football. He is always helping out with whatever needs to be done from extra practices, field cleanup, to helping the JV and Freshman/Sophomore teams, and mentoring the younger players. Each year the team sells “Cowboy Cards” which offers discounts to local merchants. This is their main fund raiser for all their equipment. For the first 3 years Daniel was the top seller and this year was the top senior seller.

Daniel is a shining example of what happens when you love something so much, almost lose it, and fight your way back to see that anything is possible.

Angela Bouwman