Saturday Susan and I were pleasantly surprised as we saw a couple in the upper deck of Texas Stadium hanging a banner on the Marcus side, a banner that read “#33 LeBon, You’re the Best!!!” Since it mentioned Mrs. Stanton’s class we assumed that there would be banners for all the Adopt-an-Athlete players who visit McAuliffe Elementary. They hung a second banner reading “Marauders = Victory”, a third that said “#33 Marauders Rock!” Then they departed.
Then the folks who hung them came to our seats to visit. Davin and Lilian Bouchillon introduced themselves and told us what an impact Jared has had on their son Austin, who is one of Jared’s A-an-A kids in Mrs. Stanton’s 3rd grade class. Austin has asthma and has never had any interest in sports – until Jared began visiting his class every Thursday morning through Marcus’ Adopt-an-Athlete Program. He’s gotten passionate about the game and wants to someday play football for Marcus!
Austin came to the Southlake game on McAuliffe night, and Friday evening at home he insisted on making the banners which his parents hung in the upper deck. They had to get an escort from security to get up there! Jared was surprised to see the banners and he plans to invite Austin and his family to our home to show him some of his sports awards collected through the years.
I’m sure many of our players have impacted their kids in similar positive ways. This was quite a manifestation of Austin’s enthusiasm!
